Across the bridge
By: Morag Joss
Publisher: Alma
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Richmond
Language: eng
Number of pages: 310
ISBN-13: 9781846881473
Subjects: Bridge failures; Fiction; Identity (Psychology)
Description: "Invermuir, a quiet town in Scotland, is rocked when a commuter bridge collapses, plunging people and their cars into the river below. Annabel was supposed to be in one of those cars, the camera on the bridge sees the vehicle start to cross right before the collapse. But Annabel secretly sold her car to Stephen, an immigrant trying to bring his daughter Anna, and his wife, Silva, a better life by using it as a taxi. In the aftermath of the bridge tragedy, Silva waits for her husband to come home, her small shed on the banks of the river where he drowned. This is where Annabel, pregnant and presumed dead, finds her, and together the two women form an uneasy alliance, living together, sharing the chores, hiding from their pasts. Ron soon joins them, a man who is escaping the stigma of being an ex-convict, who finds purpose in transporting people across the river while the bridge is rebuilt. But secrets cannot stay buried forever, and soon the peace the three live in will be shattered. For Annabel and Silva, the truth will bring with it tragic consequences, as lies, betrayals, and the past come roaring back with unimaginable fury"--

When a bridge collapses in the Highlands of Scotland, dozens of people vanish into the river below. A car hired by a woman tourist was filmed pulling onto the bridge moments before it fell. Now numbered among the missing, the woman seizes her chance to start her life over. But her new path takes her no farther than a wooden cabin on the riverbank, where she seeks rebirth and freedom from her old self. There she lives with Silva, an illegal immigrant whose husband and daughter have not been seen since the day of the bridge's collapse. The women are befriended by the boatman Ron, and together they create a fragile sanctuary. Lost souls all, they keep secrets from each other, yet connect in ways none of them expects, as they strive to reconcile their past histories with the present and shape for themselves an elusive, longed-for future.