Book description
Evan S. Connell's Mrs Bridge is an extraordinary tragicomic portrayal of suburban life and one of the classic American novels of the twentieth century.
Mrs Bridge, an unremarkable and conservative housewife in Kansas City, has three children and a kindly lawyer husband. She spends her time shopping, going to bridge…
Why read it?
2 authors picked Mrs Bridge as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
If you’d told me that one of my “3 Best Books” in 2024 would be about a midwestern middle-class housewife in the mid-20th century, my response would have been “yeah, sure.” But here we are.
I wasn’t expecting such a sharply observed, smart, ironic, compassionate, often funny, sometimes sad, series of short chapters that trace the life of India Bridge as she navigates the changes of the mid-1900s. I was blown away by the simple but perfect prose and the author’s refusal to either condescend to his main character for her certainty or exonerate her for her blindness and belief…
Who knew that the life of a prim and proper midwestern suburban housewife could be so riveting and moving? Written by a man (!) and told in vignettes that act like facets to a many-sided gem that is this novel, Mrs. Bridge is a mind-blowingly beautiful book that centers on the invisible forces of patriarchy that restrict a woman, wife, and mother.
Although this book is many years old, it is forever timely. With humor and clear, satisfying, and exquisite writing, this is a book that I return to often since, like a glittering jewel, it is surprising at every…
From Eliza's list on elevating the overlooked experience of moms.
If you love Mrs Bridge...
These Blue Mountains
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
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