Yonder the Bridge: The Story of an Impossible Courtship
by Eva Berck
Category: Fiction

The book begins with a spellbinding cliffhanger: The meeting in 1945 - Weeks before the end of the War - of a young German woman & an American Lieutenant. He falls in love with her at first sight & proposes marriage just hours before the withdrawal of the American troops & the arrival of the Red Army. The story, which covers the time between 1930 & 1947, is quite extraordinary, given how little Americans actually know about those particular years as experienced by native Germans. This is a "normal" family, trying to get on with life, education, & finding adequate food & shelter, often under horrendous conditions. The dominant character is undoubtedly the mother, a widow, whose efficient, iron willed dominance brings her family through these stressful times, but causes problems for her children. The daughter struggles to distance herself from both her overpowering mother & the tumultous events around them. The strength of the book stems from Ms. Berck's eye for detail & descriptive judgement. Each scene is enlivened with moments of immediacy, conflict, confrontation, fear, escape & comic relief emerge from each episode. Ms. Berck shows keen perception, total recall, & an exceptional talent for eliciting laughter.