Will I love Mrs Bridge?

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… show more.

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… show more.