The Other Side of the Bridge
by Mary Lawson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Mary LawsonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-08-28
ISBN: 0385340389
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
Book Reviews of The Other Side of the Bridge
Book Review: Surefooted!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was totally surprised when I started this book last night and read the introductory chapter which gave a richly detailed accounting of two boys playing Stretch as described in In Your Wildest Dreams. I guess the game is more widespread than I imagined but what really got to me was the emotion and description which my writing was lacking. Excellent, and surprising find!
This book was a very pleasant experience to read. It started out showing the differences in the way Arthur and Jake were treated by their parents. The book plodded along slowly like Arthur behind the team of horses in the field. Jake never did a lick of farm work, for he was the golden boy, the mama's boy, spoiled and smart and crafty and cunning in his efforts to get his father's attention, which he was never able to accomplish.
The story gained momentum, the chapters got longer and more interesting and yet never, ever did the author stumble. The relationship between Arthur and Jake was explored with a story surrounding circumstance and it was beautifully, elegantly and perfectly told.
There were things I guessed at early on in the story that later proved to be true and a few things that surprised me. This book and author are so sure-footed, unlike Jake on the bridge, that I will go back to the library for Lawson's first novel, Crow Lake if I go out at all today.
Summary of The Other Side of the Bridge
From the author of the beloved #1 national bestseller Crow Lake comes an exceptional new novel of jealously, rivalry and the dangerous power of obsession.Two brothers, Arthur and Jake Dunn, are the sons of a farmer in the mid-1930s, when life is tough and another world war is looming. Arthur is reticent, solid, dutiful and set to inherit the farm and his father?s character; Jake is younger, attractive, mercurial and dangerous to know ? the family misfit. When a beautiful young woman comes into the community, the fragile balance of sibling rivalry tips over the edge.
Then there is Ian, the family?s next generation, and far too sure he knows the difference between right and wrong. By now it is the fifties, and the world has changed ? a little, but not enough.
These two generations in the small town of Struan, Ontario, are tragically interlocked, linked by fate and community but separated by a war which devours its young men ? its unimaginable horror reaching right into the heart of this remote corner of an empire. With her astonishing ability to turn the ratchet of tension slowly and delicately, Lawson builds their story to a shocking climax. Taut with apprehension, surprising us with moments of tenderness and humour, The Other Side of the Bridge is a compelling, humane and vividly evoked novel with an irresistible emotional undertow.
Arthur found himself staring down at the knife embedded in his foot. There was a surreal split second before the blood started to well up and then up it came, dark and thick as syrup.
Arthur looked at Jake and saw that he was staring at the knife. His expression was one of surprise, and this was something that Arthur wondered about later too. Was Jake surprised because he had never considered the possibility that he might be a less than perfect shot? Did he have that much confidence in himself, that little self-doubt?
Or was he merely surprised at how easy it was to give in to an impulse, and carry through the thought which lay in your mind? Simply to do whatever you wanted to do, and damn the consequences.
?from The Other Side of the Bridge
From the Hardcover edition.
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