Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - Crossing the Bridge

Crossing the Bridge
Crossing the Bridge
Author: Michael Baron
Hugh Penders has been stuck in neutral for nearly a decade since his brother Chase died in a car accident. He carries with him two secrets that he has never been able to share with anyone: that he believes he might have been able to prevent the accident, and that he was deeply in love with Chase's girlfriend, Iris. When Hugh's father suf...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780981956817
ISBN-10: 0981956815
Publication Date: 1/5/2010
Pages: 352
Rating:
  • Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
 2

4.5 stars, based on 2 ratings
Publisher: Story Plant
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

recyclist1954 avatar reviewed Crossing the Bridge on + 33 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
No one escapes death and the death of a loved one affects everyone in some way, bot not necessarily in the same ways. The death of someone young and seemingly vibrant is especially difficult on those loved ones who survive because their possibilities and future remain unwritten and unlived. So it is that the characters in this book deal with the death of a son, a brother, a lover and the consequences of his death a decade after. The author allows us to see this through the eyes of his brother, who feels his own sense of responsibility and guilt and who has been trying to flee those feelings for 10 years, but is summoned back home and back to the source of his guilt and responsibility while at the same time facing the feelings he has and has had for his dead brother's girlfriend. This is a story of delicate conversations, of tentative gestures towards those estranged and of final redemption and discovery of love and of self in both expected and unexpected places. And, in some ways, it is a story about the power of home and the heart, and how together the two can give someone all he or she will ever need.
Read All 2 Book Reviews of "Crossing the Bridge"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

reviewed Crossing the Bridge on + 9 more book reviews
I really enjoyed the beginning of this story. It pulled me in and kept me interested. Hugh's feeling of being trapped, not only in his old home town but in his father's card shop, was portrayed very well. It was almost as if, since Chase never had the chance to continue on with his life that Hugh felt the need to curtail his own life. He never really moved forward all that much from the moment in time when his brother drove off of the bridge. I could see the different meanings as well with crossing a bridge. There was the literal bridge that Chase drove off of, there was the bridge to the future that Hugh didn't want to cross and the bridge to the past that meeting Iris and renewing their friendship showed. At times I got frustrated with Hugh, he was watching his father spend the day in his bathrobe afraid to even climb the stairs because of his heart attack. While he could see how stuck his father was without there being a real need for it, he didn't seem to recognize how stuck he himself was. The moving every year or so to a new job and a new relationship, his fear of developing anything long term or even really starting a career for no real reason. It was so similar to his father but he couldn't see it.

When Hugh and Iris renewed their friendship and spent time together I was glad because they both seemed to still be healing from Chase's death ten years before and they were helping each other. It was nice too to see Hugh start to develop some friendships and interests. Unfortunately towards the end of the middle it felt like the novel dragged a bit. I found myself not as keen about picking it up, but this might have been almost purposeful on the authors part to show us how stuck Hugh was with his perception of the past and his inability to go into the future. As the novel started to conclude and pieces started to fall into place I once again felt very engaged by the story. It was a satisfying story. In the end notes from the author he mentions that he is writing under an assumed name as he usually writes non-fiction which has made me curious about his other works. Along with this fiction novel he has another novel that was published prior to this and one that comes out in May. This book will be available tomorrow, January 5th, 2010.



Where the book came from: Received from the publisher for review. Thank you The Story Plant for the chance to read this novel.


Genres: