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The One-Way Bridge (2013)

by Cathie Pelletier(Favorite Author)

3.55 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1402280734 (ISBN13: 9781402280733)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Sourcebooks Landmark

review 1: I was told this was a very funny book. I disagree. I didn't laugh out loud at all, or even chuckle. There weren't any parts I was dying to share with someone, because it was just a boring book. It's just about all these miserable people in a small town in Maine. They all have problems, most of them selfish, and I didn't really like any of the characters. At the end, most of them find a way to be happy, but I found I just didn't care. I gave it two stars instead of one because Pelletier wrote the characters really well... I just didn't like any of them or get invested in any of their lives. She seemed like a decent writer, and I might try another one of her books someday, but I wouldn't recommend this one.
review 2: I am putting The One-Way Bridge at the... more top of my favorite books. What seemed to begin to be a silly, humorous, location novel turned into a brilliant analogy for life. The story takes place in Mattagash, ME and the locale is so far north that none of the things that you may think when you hear the name Maine, apply to these citizens. They eschew the lobster as their mascot as that is for "downstaters". They, instead, choose the moose to be the symbol of their small and ever so close knit town. There are so many interesting characters, among them the town itself,as it seems to beckon each inhabitant to return to their heritage, to the life learned at their ancestors' knees. The one-way bridge funnels the people to and fro and has its own set of rules (whoever's tires are on the bridge first, gets to go first and the other has to back down). The town is so small and close knit that hardly anyone can cross the bridge without someone knowing about it. There is a beloved retired teacher who each week puts up a new word on her front lawn so that her "students" can still benefit from her thirst to teach them. There is the frustrated and unappreciated housewife, the boy with great potential who goes wrong, and the two older males who lock horns continually and cantankerously over little things. This author has a way with the people, bringing them to such full lives, that I doubt I will forget them any time soon. I am sure that any reader can identify with one or more of this delicious cast of characters.as it seems to beckon each inhabitant to return to their heritage, to the life learned at their ancestors' knees. There is quite an affecting storyline about one character who served his country during the the Vietnam War. He must be suffering from PTSD and the torture that his poor mind is constantly withstanding is palpable. But the town and one woman offer healing. There is much going on here and all of it is fascinating. The denouement is appropriate and brought me to tears. Loved it! less

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