THE BRIDGE Book Review

The Bridge¹ by Karen Kingsbury, eBook, 208 pages

Synopsis from GoodReads: Molly Allen lives alone in Portland, but she left her heart back in Tennessee with a man she walked away from five years ago. They had a rare sort of love she hasn’t found since. Ryan Kelly lives in Nashville after a broken engagement and several years on the road touring with a country music duo. He can still hear Molly’s voice encouraging him to follow his dreams; Molly, whose memory stays with him. At least he can visit The Bridge—the oldest bookstore in historic downtown Franklin—and remember the hours he and Molly once spent there.

For thirty years, Charlie and Donna Barton have run The Bridge, providing the people of middle Tennessee with coffee, conversation, and shelves of good books—even through dismal book sales and the rise of digital books. Then in May, the hundred-year flood swept through Franklin and destroyed nearly every book in the store. Now the bank is pulling the lease on The Bridge. Despondent and without answers, Charlie considers the unthinkable. Then tragedy strikes, and suddenly, everything changes. In the face of desperate brokenness and lost opportunities, could the miracle of a second chance actually unfold?

The Bridge is a love story set against the struggle of the American bookstore, a love story you will never forget.

BOOK REVIEW: While I normally cannot stand a story being told from so many perspectives, this one could not be told from one or even two perspectives. Each person plays a pivotal role in the story. I enjoyed seeing the friendship grow between Molly and Ryan and could feel the tug of the heart strings with Donna and Charlie. I don't know how to say much without giving anything away but after the accident, it was hard to see how Molly and Ryan came back together...it felt like a familiar stranger encounter. Like they know each other but they don't.

It is a true story of faith and how miracles can happen. One of the things I didn't understand was why the author cut out the character Edna. The book starts with a prequel of sorts and goes into how Donna and Charlie came to open The Bridge and Edna finds herself in a dark place and goes into the shop one day and ends up building a relationship with Donna that helps her move on with her life. Flash forward to the time when Molly and Ryan are in college and there is no more mention of Edna.

I give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars because Edna, who seemed like she would be important, is all of a sudden cut out of the picture and I don't like how controlling Molly's father is even from the other side of the country. This is also a 2-part Hallmark movie available on Peacock. They made some major changes in the movie that don't seem to be necessary or make sense but I liked it. My rating is only for the book though.

4.5/5 Stars

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