Showing results for "The Bridge" in Literary Fiction

A man lies in a coma after a near-fatal accident. His body broken, his memory vanished, he finds himself in the surreal world of the bridge - a world free of the usual constraints of time and space, a world where dream and fantasy, past and future, fuse. Who is this man? Where is he? Is he more dead than alive? Or has he never been so alive before?

""As close to perfect a moral fable as we are ever likely to get in American literature."" —Russell Banks ""There are books that haunt you down the years, books that seem to touch and stir something deep inside you. . . . Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey is of this kind."" —The...

In 1913, before there is a rumor of war in Europe, Matthias Wrenn and Con Hatchel, lifelong friends from Ballyrannel in the Irish midlands, decide to see the world at the expense of the king of England and join the British army. A year later, while en route to India, their troop ship is recalled and they soon find themselves in the European slaughterhouse that was World War I.

Exploring themes of love, goodness, and predestination, Wilder exposes the nature of his characters by examining their relationships. The bonds of parents and children, siblings, and surrogate parents are all examined with elegant skill, leading us to ask the hard questions that point to the inevitable river below.

Peru, 1714. A centuries-old bridge suddenly snaps, sending five travelers plunging to their deaths. Brother Juniper, a devout and curious monk, sets out to answer a haunting question: Why these five? In seeking meaning in tragedy, he unearths the hidden stories of the victims—their passions, regrets, and quiet moments of grace. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a profound meditation on love, destiny, and the invisible threads that bind us.

Mr. & Mrs. Bridge is the saga of a clean-cut, "upper-class" couple who increasingly find their post-WWII world and traditional belief systems challenged by a changing society. For Walter Bridge, an ambitious lawyer, and his wife, whose focus is her household, affluence and material comforts create a cocoon of community respectability that cloaks the void within.

Late in the twenty-first century, drought and wildfires prompt an exodus from southern Europe. When twelve-year-old Caleb is separated from his mother during their trek north, he soon falls prey to traffickers. Enslaved in an enclave outside Manchester, the resourceful and determined Caleb never loses hope of bettering himself. After Caleb is befriended by a fellow victim of trafficking, another road opens. Hiding in the woodlands by day, guided by the stars at night, he begins a new journey - to escape to a better life, to meet someone he can trust, and to find his family.

A sweet-yet-sincere portrayal of one man’s search for answers to a puzzling riddle. J.D. and his wife Karlie have enjoyed a long, good life in the small town of Hanson, North Carolina. But problems with the family business, conflict with their college-age daughter, and ripples in their otherwise happy marriage have threatened the idyll. Then things get even more challenging when J.D. meets a needy family just across a one lane bridge – only to discover things aren’t at all what they seem.

Wartime intrigue spans the lives of three women—past and present—in this emotional novel from the acclaimed author of The Last Year of the War. February, 1946. World War Two is over, but the recovery from the most intimate of its horrors has only just begun for Annaliese Lange, a German...

'Edgy, dark, funny and perceptive' The Herald 'Immensely readable' Jo Brand 'Brilliant' The Sun 'Vulnerable and raw' Tom Allen A life-affirming debut novel from one of Britain's most-loved comedians, Kevin Bridges - exploring dysfunctional friendships, family, and how to face your problems head...

Rebecca Meer's hometown of Ward, Nebraska, is small - so small that she can't even sneak home after a drunken girls' night without running into at least three people she knows. But she has bigger problems than her reputation. The head doctor at her fertility clinic is losing his mind, and his wild behavior could cost them the business. Her supersuccessful ex-boyfriend has blown back into town and somehow become her son's fifth-grade teacher.

Katie Connelly has lived in San Francisco all her life. Her late father made his career as an ironworker on the Golden Gate Bridge, and the many stories of him trying to save jumpers still haunt her. When she's asked to write a history about the bridge, her research uncovers a secret journal hidden in her father's desk, pages of familiar advice penned by the hand of a stranger. The scribbled words tell of a promise ring and a distant love, clues that Katie hopes may answer her own unresolved sorrow.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE ROXANE GAY'S AUDACIOUS BOOK CLUB PICK FINALIST FOR THE URSULA K. LE GUIN PRIZE ""Moving and thought-provoking . . . offering psychological insights in lyrical prose while seriously exploring speculative conceits."" —...

Willa Cather renders the tough inner terrain of a man in mid-life crisis. Bartley Alexander is a master bridge engineer. At 43 he is at the height of his power, comfortable with success and all it brings. Yet he yearns for the lost vibrancy of his youth. He leads a double life, veering between his beautiful, accomplished wife and his mistress, an actress he knew as a student in Paris. The conflict creates a crack in the structure of his life that ultimately undermines him.

Meet Emma. Emma is sick. She can’t work because of a neurological condition, so is stuck in her family’s tiny council house. Emma is sick of being told to ‘get over it’. Her stepfather, her doctors, strangers – everyone has an opinion. Emma is sick of being the other woman. Her boyfriend Adam is perfect: he’s got a great job and an amazing home. His wife Celeste is the problem. Emma is sick of being underestimated. All she needed was a target. And now she has Celeste… Emma is sick. Just not in the way you thought.

Thornton Wilder is one of America's most important literary figures. He won the Pulitzer Prize three times - for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and the plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth - and is the only person to be awarded the Pulitzer for both fiction and drama. Included here are four of his key works, set in different times and places, but sharing the same fundamental motifs - the universality of human experience and our search for life's meaning.

Famous for its irregular time sequence and twist ending, this is Bierce's most anthologized story.

"The Problem of Thor Bridge" is a Sherlock Holmes murder mystery by Arthur Conan Doyle in The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, first published in 1922 in The Strand Magazine. Neil Gibson, the Gold King and former Senator from "some Western state", approaches Holmes to investigate the murder of his wife Maria in order to clear his children's governess, Grace Dunbar, of the crime. It soon emerges that Mr. Gibson's marriage had been unhappy and he treated his wife very badly.

Considered one of the great American short stories; Kurt Vonnegut said it was the best. Set in the Civil War with a Southwestern humor twist worthy of Mark Twain, but much grimmer. The story of betrayal as a Northern Scout in the Civil War lures a planter to blow up a bridge so he can be caught and hanged. Short, concise, worthy.

***"If you're fascinated by unexplained phenomena, hop in a beat-up Audi with the kooky and supersmart Cassie Klein and her dog Luna for a voyage of discovery involving a giant moth, a West Virginia bridge collapse and a hot cryptozoologist. The droll Ms. Coll strikes again!"--People Magazine***...