Author Evan S. Connell depicts the life of a middle-class woman and her family through a series of snippets, vignettes, and interludes -- no "chapter" in the novel is more than ten pages long and some are only six sentences.

With sequences entitled "Guest Towels," "Nothing Spectacular," "One Summer Morning," "Servant's Entrance," and "Parking," Connell builds a portrait of an existence that is mundane, yet also encompasses the profound grief, doubt, and accomplishments of which everyday life is made.

The following passage illustrates Connell's beautifully simple writing and how he reveals the sorrow of decades in a single paragraph: "Her husband had never been a demonstrative man, not even when they were first married; consequently she did not expect too much from him. Yet there were moments when she was overwhelmed by a terrifying, inarticulate need. One evening as she and he were finishing supper together, alone, the children having gone out, she inquired rather sharply if he loved her. She was surprised by her own bluntness and by the almost shrewish tone of her voice, because that was not the way she actually felt. She saw him gazing at her in astonishment; his expression said very clearly: Why on earth do you think I'm here if I don't love you? Why aren't I somewhere else? What in the world has gotten into you?"

Mrs. Bridge is a very quiet book of tiny moments that cumulatively pack one hell of a mighty wallop. ( )