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Product Description
Review
"Lawson's gifts are enormous, especially her ability to write a literary work in a popular style. Her dialogue has perfect pitch, yet I've never read anyone better at articulating silence. Best of all, Lawson creates the most quotable images in Canadian literature." --"Toronto Star
"
"I could not put it down, but perhaps better to say that I could not let it go or that it would not let me go . . . Lawson transported me into a place that I know does not exist by taking me deep down into the story of a family whose fate is inexorable and universal. Her reality became mine." --"Globe and Mail"
"One of the most eagerly awaited books of the autumn season. . . . The prologue draws you in, as does the novel, which is consistently well-written, involving and enjoyable to read. . . . Achingly real, known, [Arthur's] inner life, with all its shifts in understanding, emotion, perception and conflicted impulses, is rendered with compelling force in concise, supple prose." --"Ottawa Citizen"
"[Lawson] returns to several of the themes that marked her brilliantly successful first novel, Crow Lake. . . . Lawson's cornucopia of novelistic gifts, even more bounteously on display in her second book, includes handsome, satisfying sentences, vivid descriptions of physical work and landscape and an almost fiendish efficiency in building the feeling that something very bad is about to happen." --"National Post"
"An accomplished successor to [Crow Lake]. . . . With her cast of engaging characters, Lawson subtly but surely builds the dramatic tension toward a climax that changes the lives of both the Dunn and Christopherson families. Lawson's story is a coming-of-age tale for two generationsof young men, a community and a country." --"Quill & Quire"
"
"I could not put it down, but perhaps better to say that I could not let it go or that it would not let me go . . . Lawson transported me into a place that I know does not exist by taking me deep down into the story of a family whose fate is inexorable and universal. Her reality became mine." --"Globe and Mail"
"One of the most eagerly awaited books of the autumn season. . . . The prologue draws you in, as does the novel, which is consistently well-written, involving and enjoyable to read. . . . Achingly real, known, [Arthur's] inner life, with all its shifts in understanding, emotion, perception and conflicted impulses, is rendered with compelling force in concise, supple prose." --"Ottawa Citizen"
"[Lawson] returns to several of the themes that marked her brilliantly successful first novel, Crow Lake. . . . Lawson's cornucopia of novelistic gifts, even more bounteously on display in her second book, includes handsome, satisfying sentences, vivid descriptions of physical work and landscape and an almost fiendish efficiency in building the feeling that something very bad is about to happen." --"National Post"
"An accomplished successor to [Crow Lake]. . . . With her cast of engaging characters, Lawson subtly but surely builds the dramatic tension toward a climax that changes the lives of both the Dunn and Christopherson families. Lawson's story is a coming-of-age tale for two generationsof young men, a community and a country." --"Quill & Quire"
"There's something timid yet masterful in Lawson's writing. She neither wastes nor wallows. Her characters do not so much develop as blossom into themselves, one petal after another. . . . This is a book you will be driven to share with friends." --"Gazette" (Montreal)
"A devastating story . . . about pushing fate and dealing with the consequences. The main characters of Arthur and Ian are expertly drawn." --"London Free Press"
"From the Hardcover edition."
The Observer
'An engrossing period piece...vivid evocation of setting &
characters.'
characters.'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I saw this book on the Richard & Judy Summer read and thought I'd try it on for size. I'd never read anything by Mary Lawson before and immediately fell in love with the characters Ian and Arthur.
Lawson beautifully creates a scene of growing up in a small town, both pre and post WW2 and uses realistic description of the town's scenary throughout the seasons.
She also creates a marvellous relationship between Arthur and the rest of his family (and later his wife) and encapsulates the very essence of sibling rivalry - with a more vicious twist.
It's a moving and somewhat heartbreaking tale of love, loss and humanity. I liked the way that Arthur and Ian's stories were structurally broken up by chapters; there was no jumping backwards and forwards that often loses a reader.
I'd definitely read more of her work; I read this in 2 days on holiday and felt sorry to finish it.
Lawson beautifully creates a scene of growing up in a small town, both pre and post WW2 and uses realistic description of the town's scenary throughout the seasons.
She also creates a marvellous relationship between Arthur and the rest of his family (and later his wife) and encapsulates the very essence of sibling rivalry - with a more vicious twist.
It's a moving and somewhat heartbreaking tale of love, loss and humanity. I liked the way that Arthur and Ian's stories were structurally broken up by chapters; there was no jumping backwards and forwards that often loses a reader.
I'd definitely read more of her work; I read this in 2 days on holiday and felt sorry to finish it.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Here it is again. The gentle but persistent voice of the author of "Crow Lake," as she tells another story set in the same area of Northern Canada.
This time it is a tale of two brothers, just about as different as brothers could be. Inevitably they are rivals and whilst Arthur is the strong dependable one, Jake is spoilt and over protected by his mother.
There is little, if any, love between the brothers, and as time passes and the boys grow up, not surprisingly they find themselves in competition for the same girl.
The narrative is divided between two time spans, one leading up to and during the Second World War, and the other in the 1950's, and these alternate, chapter by chapter throughout the book.
Mary Lawson writes with compelling style and her characters are well drawn and complex, but nevertheless easy to empathise with. I simply loved this story although not quite as much as Mary Lawson's first novel, "Crow Lake." There again that was a hard act to follow.
The tension builds slowly as the feeling grows that somehow, someway something has to give; something has to happen to break the spell, redress the balance and bring justice.
It does, and it is well worth the wait!
This time it is a tale of two brothers, just about as different as brothers could be. Inevitably they are rivals and whilst Arthur is the strong dependable one, Jake is spoilt and over protected by his mother.
There is little, if any, love between the brothers, and as time passes and the boys grow up, not surprisingly they find themselves in competition for the same girl.
The narrative is divided between two time spans, one leading up to and during the Second World War, and the other in the 1950's, and these alternate, chapter by chapter throughout the book.
Mary Lawson writes with compelling style and her characters are well drawn and complex, but nevertheless easy to empathise with. I simply loved this story although not quite as much as Mary Lawson's first novel, "Crow Lake." There again that was a hard act to follow.
The tension builds slowly as the feeling grows that somehow, someway something has to give; something has to happen to break the spell, redress the balance and bring justice.
It does, and it is well worth the wait!
44 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was a little disappointed by some of the Richard and Judy choices so came to this late, but it was sheer reading pleasure from beginning to end. It's a story of good people doing the best they can with the lives they have and how one small action can cause so much damage and such sad consequences.
I loved everything about this book. It had me in tears more than once, the whole thing fitted together so beautifully, and the detail was loveley, from the repercussions of the war to the spots on the throat of the little girl with measles. It's beautifully written, it's a lovely story and it has real soul.
I loved everything about this book. It had me in tears more than once, the whole thing fitted together so beautifully, and the detail was loveley, from the repercussions of the war to the spots on the throat of the little girl with measles. It's beautifully written, it's a lovely story and it has real soul.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Left strangely unsure.....
The Other Side of the Bridge
This book was chosen by my reading group but I would have picked it up while browsing along a library shelf. Read more
This book was chosen by my reading group but I would have picked it up while browsing along a library shelf. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Sue Ryan
A lovely book
The first couple of chapters were quite slow and I found it difficult to get engaged but after that I was hooked. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Sue Stevenson
LYRICAL & MOVING
Struan - a small town in Canada's far north. The Dunns - a farming family with two sons: hard working Arthur, dull but dependable; charismatic Jake, a wastrel and troublemaker. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mr. D. L. Rees
A moving and powerful read
I came across this book quite by accident and knew very little about it when I did. Thank goodness I decided to give it ago because from the very first page Lawson's style blew me... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Miss L. Stephenson
Hypnotic inevitability
I've not read Mary Lawson before but a bout of flu caused me to ransack my shelves for an unread novel and I came across this one,bought some time ago but unread. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Valentine Gersbach
The other side of the bridge
Currently reading this book and really enjoying it, so much so that I thought I'd post my first review on Amazon. Read more
Published 18 months ago by bertha white
Thr other side of the bridge
This novel has been beautifully written. It is very discriptive of rural provincial life in Northern Canada. At times there is a feeling of isolation. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Elizabeth Witchery
A bit annoying at first ...
A bit annoying having chapters (past and present) intertwined, especially with suspense at the end of the chapters ... but, in the end, a good read, an enjoyable story.
Published 20 months ago by bragadaccio
Predictable and superficial
A predictable story written in a plodding yet pretentious style. Little was left to the reader and every point was made several times as though we were incapable of working out... Read more
Published 21 months ago by J. Griffiths
A beautiful read
What a wonderful second novel by Mary Lawson, it is such a powerful but subtle story of life in the Canadian town of Struan. Read more
Published 23 months ago by booklover
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