Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2025
Document Type
MFA Creative Writing Thesis (Campus Access)
Degree Type
MFA
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
English
Committee Chair
Mark Brazaitis
Committee Co-Chair
Jenny Johnson
Committee Member
Jenny Johnson
Committee Member
Brian E. Broome
Abstract
In this novel, an American “seeker” (“Soaring Bear” is just one of his names) goes missing on the tranquil shores of Guatemala’s Lake Atitlán. A series of colorful narrators joins forces to investigate his fate — including his American ex, his Indigenous wife, his buddy from Boston, a lovestruck waiter, and a repentant elderly sinner with an eye for supernatural forces. Through their adventures, the narrators learn much about Soaring Bear — including his run-ins with a European drug dealer, his problematic relationship with a local religious cult, and his extreme capacity for both love and cruelty — while discovering even more about themselves. Finally, the arrival of Soaring Bear’s no-nonsense, culturally insensitive mother provokes a graveside melee and an ultimate revelation about Soaring Bear’s fate.
Recommended Citation
Clabault, Benjamin A., "If Heaven Has a Heart" (2025). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 12753.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/12753