Boring! I clearly didn't get it. Hundreds of pages, decades of time and nothing happened! ( )

I did not care for the main character, Lou (Lucy). He is whiney and soft and pathetic. But as I read and other voices were introduced I realized that that at least in part is the character that Russo is painting. I suppose he reminds me of people who do not like change, do not like to leave their homes or their towns and experience something different.

The relationship between Sarah, Bobby, and Lucy made me think of a threesome and in some ways it was (though not sexually). The exploration of relationships and the choices we make that change our future relationships was interesting. ( )

"There are two kinds of people in this world....." So begins an oft used phrase that over simplifies our understanding of people into simple dichotomies. It also seems to be the view of the world that Richard Russo leads us into at the beginning of this novel.

Lou Lynch, an eternal optimist who views everyone he encounters in the best possible light is paired with his wife, Tessa, who views the actions of people for their ulterior motives. Their young son, Lou C. Lynch whose trusting temperment matches his father is paired with young Bobbie Marconi who trusts no one, especially not his father.

The story quickly progresses to a more realistic exploration and development of characters with all the complexities that motive, desire, class, and race bring to the spectrum of human behavior.

The setting is a small, dying, one business industrial town in upstate New York in the post-war era. Familiar territory shared with Russo's previous book, Empire Falls. The town tannery is polluting the ground water with industrial chemicals while failing to keep pace with changes in the industry. Thus the town is dying both economically and physically.

The story is told in retrospect from the vantage point of Lucy (Lou C.), Bobby Marconi (Noonan), and Sarah Berg Lynch as they turn 60. Much of the narrative is by Lucy as he copes with his wife Sarah's treatment for breast cancer. He tries to write down the past as a way to make it tangible. Bobby (Noonan) and Sarah's voices tend to be third person narrative.

Russo's writing is strong, engaging and he is compassionate with even his most despicable characters. These characters are well developed and there are several key incidents in the story that are told from the perspectives of different characters, and sometimes the same character at different times in their life.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. but felt that the last 100 pages could have been significantly reduced. It made no sense to me that a new, strong character (Kayla) is introduced in the last 50 pages of the book. If she is the the redeemer who pulls Sarah and Lucy back from the Bridge of Sighs, then this aspect seems to be bit contrived in relation to the rest of the story. Hence the last half-star instead of a full 4 stars. ( )

The Short of It:

A story about love and acceptance and the need for normalcy. This one moves at a much slower pace but has its moments. Those that enjoy books about small town life will enjoy this one.

The Rest of It:

This was my book club's pick for this month. As a whole, most of the group enjoyed it but felt that it was much too long. At the time of the meeting, I had not finished it and thought that it was "okay" but not great. However, now that I have finished it, I find myself appreciating the story a bit more.

In a nutshell, Lou C. Lynch (Lucy) is a young boy growing up in a small town. He is surrounded by a loving, supportive family but one that has its own challenges for sure. For one, his dad (also named Lou) is a simple guy with simple values. Lucy's mother, Tessa, is often frustrated with her husband's "pie in the sky" view of life and is determined that her son not follow in his footsteps.

Although I get Tessa's frustration, I also get Lou's eternal optimism. The ability to see good in all situations, and mean it...that's not a trait that a lot of people share. So when Lucy befriends Bobby Marconi, a rebel of sorts with his own problems, we see his parents react to that friendship in different ways. One wants to protect, yet the other sees nothing but good. Sort of a hard situation when a kid is in the middle of that.

As Lucy gets older, and falls in love with Sarah, it begins to dawn on him that Sarah may not want to spend her life in that town—that she may go away to college and not come back. Add to that the dynamic of Lucy's friend Bobby, and what you have are three very good friends trying to figure out who they are.

Have you ever chosen comfort over risk? The characters in this novel are constantly questioning whether it's better to love, or be loved. Is the comfort of family worth more than heading out into the unknown to find out who you really are? I'm not sure I know. I do get the "what if" factor. When you are presented with two choices, and you make your choice, sometimes down the line you ask yourself, "What if...?" To me, this is the main theme of the book. Things change, yet other things remain the same so you ask yourself, "What if?"

Although I agree with my book club that the book should have been trimmed down a bit before publication, I did find myself swept up with the internal conflict within each character. As for the slower pace, I felt that the pace matched that of a small town. It seemed appropriate to me. That said, I was a surprised by the ending. It felt a bit choppy but overall I enjoyed the book.

Russo's new book, That Old Cape Magic just came out and I may pick it up. From what I've read it also focuses on family dynamics and takes place on the Cape, how bad can that be?

Have you read a Russo book? If so, what did you think of it? ( )

Bridge of Sighs is a very long and sometimes engaging novel of three families in small town America (New York State instead of Maine as in Empire Falls). Tracing a history of some 50 years of optimistic or violent men and mostly dour women interspersed with some racial tension and hints of homosexuality. Not my favorite Russo novel. ( )