Mrs Bridge, a well-off Kansas housewife, runs her household of successful workaholic lawyer husband and three children in the years between the wars. In 117 brief vignettes Connell gives us her life: her unquestioning acceptance of, and reliance on, convention always, fearfully, winning over occasional wistful intimations of doubt and dissatisfaction. Almost nothing happens but a whole world of repressed possibilities is implied, subtly, excruciatingly, touchingly. I found this oddly timeless re-issued 1959 classic irresistible.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 79 Winter 2016 ) |
