Mary Lawson's "The Other Side of the Bridge": A Journey into Love and Loss

MAB '50: Mittlerweile habe ich alle vier Bücher von Mary Lawson gelesen, verschlungen und warte hoffnungsvoll auf ein weitere. ML zeichnet ihre Charaktere zu glaubwürdige Menschen und aus ihre Interaktion, das Zusammenspiel entsteht dann den Drama . Die Geschichte stellt eine Familie in der erste Hälfte der letzten Jahrhundert in der einsamen norden Kanadas da. Es ist ein hartes Leben mit harten Bedingungen und das formt den Charakter und die Gemeinschaft. Ihre Geschichte widerspiegelt die Zeit und deren Werte was dieses Buch so überzeugend macht. Es ist ergreifend aber ohne Pathos.

Germany on Aug 26, 2023

Stephanie: Arrived in good condition and just in time. Had to purchase because of the price as I know my mum has recently been reading Crow Lake by the same author (think that’s what it’s called) so anyway I surprised her with this because it was so cheap. Thank you

United Kingdom on Jul 02, 2023

Teenie: I'm glad this book was recommended as I wouldn't have picked it myself. I enjoyed the story line but it was one you needed to concentrate on.

United Kingdom on Jun 22, 2023

Sandra H. Mosolgo: Mary Lawson has a gift for placing the reader with the characters and the setting. While she depicts uncomfortable, unhappy situations, they are believable. Her writing style and plot lines are truly engaging.

United States on Jun 13, 2023

Karen Levy: The writer drew such a clear picture of life in the remote town, the farm, the people and their relationships I felt like was a part of the community.

United States on Jun 12, 2023

pauline barwise: Really enjoyable read well written will read more of this author would recommend her never read any of her books before

United Kingdom on Feb 28, 2023

john gilbert: I wanted to love this much more than I did, having loved both Crow Lake and A Town Called Solace previously, but I found this a bit of a slog actually and I did not like the final big scene at all, it just did not fit in with what had gone on throughout the book.

Dual timelines, 1940s Canada (not 1930s as the book description said, this was somewhat important as WWII played a significant backdrop to this timeline) and 1960's postwar Northern Ontario. Two brothers as the lead in the former, with the later addition of Laura into the mix, then many years later with the older brother and Laura with Ian, the youngfella whose father was the local doctor. Wonderfully written, very descriptive of the place and times, but I felt let down hugely by the end.

One quote early on resonated with me: 'There were subjects his father knew about, such as the farm, and subjects his mother knew about, such as everything else.' A farming community for sure.

3.5 marked up because of the beautiful writing.

United States on Oct 24, 2022

Minijax: The other side of the bridge is set in an imaginary town of Struan in Canada, based on similar areas which the author knows, in northern Ontario. The author, Mary Lawson is a Canadian, living in Surrey. I read her first book, out of curiosity, when I heard she was related by marriage to my neighbour. I had no idea that she was a Booker nominee.

Interestingly, the book is told from an entirely male perspective. Perhaps this is partly because Mary Lawson grew up with two brothers, and also has two sons.

After a foreword, in which we meet two brothers in the early 1920s, we move forward to 1957 where, teenager, Ian, is starting work with farmer, Arthur, one of the two brothers. The foreword is significant, because it tells us all we need to know about the personalities of the two boys.

It’s initially difficult to see if Ian is there as an observer of the relationship between the brothers, Arthur and Jake, or if he will have his own story, because in the first chapter, we are back to 1925 and the brothers, once again. The book moves backwards and forwards between various time zones from then on.

As we progress, it seems that Ian does have his own story,...

United Kingdom on Feb 10, 2022

Bonnie Brody: This is the second book I've read by Mary Lawson but it won't be my last. Her writing style is one of depth and profundity. Her characterizations run true to life and I felt like I was in Struan, Canada among the book's characters.

Like 'Crow Lake', this book takes place on a farm in rural northern Canada. The protagonists are the Dunn family, especially Arthur and Jake, two brothers who could not be more different. Jake is a dilettante, a man who is without empathy or conscience, living his life impulsively and for the moment. He is good-looking and his mother's favorite. Arthur, the older of the two, is serious and streadfast, a hard worker and a man of few words but deep emotions. It is Arthur that helps his father keep the farm going.

When they are boys, Jake is involved in a serious accident that Arthur blames himself for. Though he saves Jake's life, Arthur wishes, at the time, that Jake would die. Arthur carries this guilt with him like an albatross onto adulthood. As the novel opens Arthur is married to the beautiful Laura and Jake is nowhere in the picture.

Ian, the son of Struan's physician, asks Arthur for a summer job because he is smitten with...

United States on Oct 03, 2016

Timothy J. Bazzett: Usually when you describe a book as 'riveting' it's a thriller about spies or murder mysteries. Mary Lawson's THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BRIDGE is neither, but it is as riveting a read as I've run across in quite a while. I bought the book because I'd so enjoyed her first novel CROW LAKE, which was simply superb. (I use that phrase, 'simply superb,' whenever I really like a book. So, sorry if you've seen it before, but it fits.) Well so is this one; in fact it might even be a bit better than her first. I kept thinking of Cain and Abel, or Essau and Jacob, but neither biblical parallel rally quite fits. Because Arthur and Jake are unique characters, and I know I won't soon forget them. And then there is Laura too, a beautifully drawn character, who also acts as a catalyst, who creates all that tension. And Ian, who is witness to everything and, later, participant. And I'm telling you right now, when you get down to those final pages, you will be wincing, because you've gotten to know these characters, and you just know there will be pain, there will be hurt, there will be - there IS - real genuine tragedy. And yet Lawson gives you some comfort in the epilogue.

This is a story,...

United States on Feb 03, 2013