Mary Lawson is one of those exceptional authors whose way with language seems deceptively simple. With ease, she summarises complex feelings in few words. The Other Side of the Bridge is Lawson’s second published novel, and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. 
It is the story of two brothers, in childhood, in adulthood in the remote rural Canadian community of Struan. There is little to do in Struan except farm, to do anything else means leaving for the big city of Toronto. The eldest, Arthur, is a tall farm boy, quiet, most like his father. Not great with words, nevertheless he watches and doesn’t miss much. His younger brother Jake is smaller, lithe, good-looking, the apple of his mother’s eye. With a gift for the gab, Jake thinks nothing of fibbing. He is the risk taker. Arthur, always with an eye on his mother’s fragile emotional state, tries to steer Jake from trouble. But trouble always finds Jake. When new tenants rent the neighbouring farmhouse, both brothers are interested in the teenage girl who arrives with her widowed father.
Twenty years later is the story of teenager Ian, son of Struan’s doctor. He takes a Saturday job helping Arthur, now married, on the family farm. Ian’s motivation is the chance of spending moments near Laura, Arthur’s wife, with whom he is besotted. The story moves backwards and forwards in time zones, always told from a male perspective. I most enjoyed reading Arthur’s point of view, far from being an introverted giant of a man who struggled at school, he has a strong moral core with deep emotions.
The story of the two brothers is intertwined with so much else. The cultural history of the local native American community, the role of German prisoners of war as farm workers during World War Two, the secondary role of women in the home and the dominance of the husband, the financial challenges of rural farming. The differences pre- and post-war are obvious and subtle, as experienced and observed by Ian in the Sixties.
Here are two examples of Lawson’s prose. On the onset of autumn: ‘During the day the sun was still hot but as soon as it dipped down behind the trees the warmth dropped out of the air like a stone.’ On wishing something had been left unsaid: ‘Desperate to find a way round the unalterable fact that once you have said something, it is said. Once it has left your lips, you cannot take it back.’
Picked off the to-read pile, I read this immersive book in two days. What a masterful author Mary Lawson is. A 5* read for me.
Here’s my review of A TOWN CALLED SOLACE, also by Mary Lawson.
If you like this, try:-
‘Amy & Isabelle’ by Elizabeth Strout
‘Natural Flights of the Human Mind’ by Clare Morrall
‘Clock Dance’ by Anne Tyler
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#BookReview THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BRIDGE by Mary Lawson https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7Ta via @SandraDanby
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