Mrs Bridge

A pitch-perfect novel. I think one of the many uses of Goodreads is the ability to discover works of literature that would have probably escaped me otherwise. This was on the Penguin modern classics list, I believe, and if it weren't for my desire to want to be a list completionist, then Mrs Bridge would have escaped me entirely.

What puts Mrs Bridge in the same category as other writers like Yates, Carver or Updike who have made astute observations about the suburban lifestyle of American society? Initially, the novel reads as a simple, straightforward portrait of a housewife, India Bridge and her devotion to her husband and three children. Yet much like the above writers, the text is much more layered than that. Evan S Connell deftly interweaves a variety of themes. Family relationships, privilege, the repression of social mores, and the longing to find one's individual self are scattered through the 117 short vignette-like chapters, each with its own title.

Most importantly, the reader gets a clear sense of the world that Mrs Bridge inhabits. Her life is not only filled with the challenges of being married to Mr Bridge, the rearing of her three children but just as important, keeping in line with the issues and concerns of her social setting. Mrs Bridge strives to find her place in the world she inhabits. Connell also demonstrates how the culture that Mrs Bride resides in can shape her views. For example, an earlier scene in the book has Mrs Bridge keeping a careful eye on her daughter's, Carolyn, relationship with a coloured girl, Alice Jones succumbing to the prejudice of her time.

The prose is outstanding, and many of the chapters end with a sense of closure. Consequently, each chapter is either a self-contained miniature event or things are left up for the reader to interpret. For example, this is how chapter 90 ends in which Mrs Bridge's son comes to realise that he has not fooled his mother about the reason why he crashed her car: “Although she had not said a word, he perceived that in some fantastic manner she sensed the complete truth, and he reflected that in matters however distantly related to sex she possessed supernatural powers of divination”.

Overall the narrative device used, the fact that the themes and issues Connell tackles are still relevant today, and it's the profound insight Mrs Bridge gives into the conditions of married and family life that make it a timeless masterpiece.