Book Review: Bridge of Sighs, by Richard Russo
Bridge of Sighs
Richard Russo
544 pages. Knopff, 2007. $27
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Richard Russo is one of a half-dozen authors whose books I buy sight unseen. I have laughed and cried reading his novels, especially my favorite, Nobody’s Fool, but also the chilling Empire Falls and the burlesque Straight Man.
So I was delighted to get yet another novel from an author who doesn’t write as much as I’d like, and it’s a big meaty one. Russo himself once said, “When a favorite author of mine comes out with a new book, I always hope for two contradictory things: first, I hope it’s like all the other books of his or hers that I love, and second, I hope he’s not going to repeat himself. Sure, it’s a paradox, but I suspect I’m not alone in my desires.” And Bridge of Sighs is about as different as possible from Russo’s other books, yet at the same time his depth of character, humanism and touching details are ever-present.
The story tells the tale of Lou C. Lynch (nicknamed Lucy), and his relationship with his family, his only friend, and eventually his girlfriend who will later become his wife. It’s vintage Russo in his characterization and portrayal of small-town America, a tiny slice of life of a small town in upstate New York. This is what’s called a “character-driven novel”, where the plot itself is dependent on the characters and their actions, and that explains why some reviewers have found the book “slow” or “wordy”. Russo weaves a tapestry of the events in his characters’ lives, their feelings, and their thoughts, and all of it is believable.
I won’t deny that I was a bit thrown by this book for a while. But I trusted Russo to bring this story to a moving conclusion, and had tears in my eyes during the final chapter. If you don’t have patience to read a true stylist and, in my opinion, on of America’s finest character authors, you’d best avoid this book. But if you are willing to give yourself up to Russo’s world for more than 500 pages, you’ll be much the richer. As always, Russo gives a great story, with moving, real people in events that you can imagine occurring to you. A great read indeed.
