THe other side of the bridge by Mary Lawson
The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I found this a little slow to get into, but in the end it is an interesting story about inter relationships in a small northern Canadian town. The themes of compliance and difference are very strong. The chapters alternate between the 30's and the 50's with the same central characters in both. A good read.
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,
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