''The Other Side of the Bridge'' is the second novel by Canadian novelist Mary Lawson. It became a bestseller in Canada, and was longlisted for

The Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

Plot summary

As with her first novel, '' Crow Lake'', the setting is

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Pro ...

. It is the mid 1930s and Arthur and Jake, the sons of a farmer vie for the affections of Laura, a newcomer to the community. A generation later, Ian the son of the local doctor becomes obsessed with Arthur's wife...

Characters

Major characters

*Arthur Dunn: Protagonist for even-numbered chapters. Big, heavy, slow, sloping shoulders, neck like an ox, broad meaty feet. Doesn't like school, thinks it's useless. Gets rejected from going to war because of flat feet. Implied he dies in the epilogue. He falls in love with Laura and marries her and raises a child that is not his but his brother's. *Jake Dunn: Wheat-colored hair, triangular face, Arthur's brother. Excels at school and women. Four years younger than Arthur. Falls off the bridge in Chapter 4. Has a permanent limp after. *Ian Christopherson: Protagonist for odd-numbered chapters. Dr. Christopherson's son. Expected to be the next doctor. Has a perverted love for Laura, going as far as getting a job at Arthur's farm to get closer to her. *Laura Dunn: Reverend March's daughter. Comes with him when he comes to take over for Reverend Gordon. Falls in love with Jake and gets pregnant with his child resulting in Arthur marrying her to avert her crisis.

Secondary characters

*Henry Dunn: Arthur and Jake's father. He dies when he drives the tractor into the ditch. *Mrs. Dunn: Arthur and Jake's mother. Has had multiple miscarriages in the past leading to her overprotective nature of Jake. *Dr. Christopherson: The town's only resident doctor. *Beth Christopherson: Ian's mother and Dr. Christopherson's wife. She leaves Ian and Dr. Christopherson in Chapter 3 because she no longer loves Dr. Christopherson anymore. She moves to Toronto with Robert Patterson, Ian's teacher. *Pete Corbiere: Ian's best friend, goes fishing with him. *Mr. Corbiere: Pete's grandfather. Works at the reserve store down by the lake. *Otto Luntz: Carl's Father *Gertie Luntz: Carl's Mother *Carl Luntz: Arthur's best friend. Has a collection of antlers. Goes to fight in the war and dies along with his brothers. *Carter Dunn: Son of Laura Dunn and Jake. Gets run over by Jake in the last chapter. *Cathy Barrett: Girlfriend of Ian Christopherson. Has a spat with Ian about his future.

Settings

The story takes place in Struan, a small fictional town in Northern Ontario.

Themes

There are multiple themes throughout the story. They include growing up, friendship, love, adultery, sibling rivalry, war, guilt, responsibility, choices in life, and farming.

Reception

Reviews were positive : * Penelope Lively in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' wrote "Tragedy abounds in the novel, but such is its humanity and its wisdom that the effect is not dismaying, but somehow reassuring. Appalling things happen, and are done, but in the last resort ordinary decency somehow wins out. This is a fine book – an enthralling read, both straightforward and wonderfully intricate" * Louise Doughty in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' finished with "Her Booker longlisting should be a source of joy for everyone tired of self-indulgent "look at me" writing. The Other Side of the Bridge is a beautiful read, on every level." *Frances Taliaferro in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' wrote "''The Other Side of the Bridge'' is an admirable novel. Its old-fashioned virtues were also apparent in Crow Lake – narrative clarity, emotional directness, moral context and lack of pretension – but Lawson has ripened as a writer, and this second novel is much broader and deeper. The author draws her characters with unobtrusive humor and compassion, and she meets one of the fiction writer's most difficult challenges: to portray goodness believably, without sugar or sentiment."

Translations

* German: ''Auf der anderen Seite des Flusses.'' Transl. Sabine Lohmann. Heyne, Munich 2006

References

External links

Bookbits interviewRichard & Judy Summer Reads interviewYoutube interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Other Side of the Bridge 2006 Canadian novels Novels by Mary Lawson Canadian romance novels Novels set in Northern Ontario Chatto & Windus books Knopf Canada books