- Paperback: 624 pages
- Publisher: Viking (1 July 2010)
- Language Unknown
- ISBN-10: 0670914584
- ISBN-13: 978-0670914586
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.2 x 4.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 195,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Invisible Bridge
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Product Description
Review
The word "epic" seems inadequate to describe Julie Orringer's phenomenal first novel. You don't so much read it as live it . . . This is one that cries for you to linger over, page by enthralling page (Simon Schama Financial Times )
It does what novels often set out to do but seldom achieve. The marvellous thing about The Invisible Bridge is that it takes what is novelistic about real life and presses it up against the shattered mirror in which we see ourselves (George Szirtes The Times )
A beautiful and sad book but also one that really deserves to be described as 'life affirming (Fiction Of The Week Metro )
In this powerful and affecting novel, crowded with the details of the lives they led and the miseries inflicted on them, she has done her family justice (Sunday Times )
It does what novels often set out to do but seldom achieve. The marvellous thing about The Invisible Bridge is that it takes what is novelistic about real life and presses it up against the shattered mirror in which we see ourselves (George Szirtes The Times )
A beautiful and sad book but also one that really deserves to be described as 'life affirming (Fiction Of The Week Metro )
In this powerful and affecting novel, crowded with the details of the lives they led and the miseries inflicted on them, she has done her family justice (Sunday Times )
Product Description
In September 1937 Andras, a young Hungarian student, leaves his family and heads for Paris on a scholarship to study architecture. Before he sets off he is given a mysterious letter to post on arrival in Paris. It is addressed to an Hungarian woman and no reason is given why it cannot be posted from Budapest. When Andras arrives in Paris he becomes vitally aware of his poverty, particularly when he enters the home of a richer Hungarian emigre Klara Morgenstern. She is a young widowed woman, and he finds himself falling in love with her. As they begin to meet regularly it is clear that Klara is hiding a terrifying secret, related to the mysterious letter that Andras posted on arrival, which means she is trapped in Paris as war looms closer. And, as Andras and his fellow students' lives become ever more vulnerable in the shadow of war, the group must shatter in order to survive. Andras is forced home to a labour camp, his brother disappears and Klara risks everything to return to Hungary to be close to her lover.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
53 of 53 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In the history of WW2 and the Holocaust, Hungary and the fate of the Hungarian Jews was different than the other European countries that fell under Nazi domination. This is because Hungary, under the rule of Admiral Horthy, was an "ally" of Germany. Because of their allied status, Hungary was not occupied by the Germans until 1944. As an ally, the Hungarian Jews were spared the mass deportations to the death camps that were being done all over German-occupied territories in eastern and western Europe. But the Hungarian Jews were still affected by the war; many of the men were "drafted" into worker orginisations that aided the Hungarian war effort. The Horthy regime was able to go against their German ally's demands until the overthrow of the government and occupation by the Germans in 1944. With German occupation, the Hungarian Jews faced the same fate as their European counterparts. In the space of about nine months, from German occupation until Russian liberation, hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews were murdered.
Against this political and social background, Julie Orringer tells the story of the Hasz family. Three brothers, their parents, spouses, and other relatives and friends were tossed by the winds of war and destruction from 1938 until 1956, when the surviving family members were able to flee Communist Hungary for freedom in the US. Orringer is brilliant in her descriptions of Jewish life in Paris, Budapest, and the out-lying Hungarian countryside. This is a long book, about 600 or so pages, but I was never bored. Orringer's writing is so nuanced that she's able to write about the study of architecture in Paris to the intricacies of Jewish life and religious practice to the horrors of the labor camps in eastern Europe. The plot is compulsively readable and the characterisations only a little less so.
This is obviously the story of Orringer's own family. She beautifully weaves history, politics, religion, and human relationships into one very good book.
Against this political and social background, Julie Orringer tells the story of the Hasz family. Three brothers, their parents, spouses, and other relatives and friends were tossed by the winds of war and destruction from 1938 until 1956, when the surviving family members were able to flee Communist Hungary for freedom in the US. Orringer is brilliant in her descriptions of Jewish life in Paris, Budapest, and the out-lying Hungarian countryside. This is a long book, about 600 or so pages, but I was never bored. Orringer's writing is so nuanced that she's able to write about the study of architecture in Paris to the intricacies of Jewish life and religious practice to the horrors of the labor camps in eastern Europe. The plot is compulsively readable and the characterisations only a little less so.
This is obviously the story of Orringer's own family. She beautifully weaves history, politics, religion, and human relationships into one very good book.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a most compelling story. The author involves you in the lives and hardships of the family of Hungarian Jews in WWII. I couldn't put it down. It was the first book I have read that showed the war from the view point of the Hungarians and I found it most moving. I would highly recommend this to any reader.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the story of Andras, a young Hungarian Jew from a poor background, who is awarded a scholarship to study architecture at a specialist college in Paris. His first year there is good - his studies go well, he makes friends and falls in love, and apart from some brushes with anti-semitism he is enjoying life. But this is 1940 - Hitler's armies are making their relentless way across Eastern Europe and the evil that is anti-semitism is rapidly growing. Andras is forced to return to his native Hungary to renew his visa, and his life changes dramatically.
The theme of this book is the persecution of the Jews, brought to life by the excellent characterisation. It follows therefore that parts of it are really harrowing to read, detailing, as they do, intense human suffering. It's a powerful and memorable story - I'd recommend it to anyone.
Don't be put off by the size of the book - mine was a huge paperback - I was utterly engrossed in it from Page 1.
The theme of this book is the persecution of the Jews, brought to life by the excellent characterisation. It follows therefore that parts of it are really harrowing to read, detailing, as they do, intense human suffering. It's a powerful and memorable story - I'd recommend it to anyone.
Don't be put off by the size of the book - mine was a huge paperback - I was utterly engrossed in it from Page 1.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Absolutely Perfect
I wanted this book to finish on the one hand as I was desperate to know if the ending was how I wanted it to be, but on the other hand as I came to the last few pages I began to... Read more
Published 27 days ago by Nelly
Memorable
An excellent book. I could barely put it down. Julie Orringer has written a memorable story that will stay with me for a long time. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Kindler
Impressive Chronicle of a War
A superbly researched novel dealing with World War II in Hungary, based on the lives of Orringer's grandparents. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Kate Hopkins
A chance to acknowledge you can survive against all odds!
Julie Orringer has written a really captivating insight into the Levi family's life of turmoil!
I so badly wanted these people she had written about to survive their... Read more
I so badly wanted these people she had written about to survive their... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ingrid Segal
Too Long
Far too long, the print is too small, it is repetitive and the "action" plods along at a snail's pace. Read more
Published 4 months ago by A. Mills
Compelling
This was one of our suggested titles for our school staff reading group over the summer holidays. I took the kindle edition of this book with me on holiday this year and found it... Read more
Published 6 months ago by W. Munro
The invisable bridge, by julie orringer
This is the most compelling....page turning book i have ever read, I took it on holiday to Spain and only read two chapters and said to myself...this is not for me... Read more
Published 9 months ago by molly
Full of promise
I read some poor reviews of this book and it put me off. I think most of the them were unfair. I enjoyed it and thought it a good read. Read more
Published 9 months ago by London Matron
A wonderful story set in wartime Europe
The Invisible Bridge begins in 1937 and follows the fortunes of three Hungarian Jewish brothers - Andras, Tibor and Matyas Levi - as they try to survive in a Europe torn apart by... Read more
Published 9 months ago by H. Skinner
Hungary ww2
beautifully written story. the reader would assume it was written many years ago - it has that lovely old fashioned feel to it. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Y Allen
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