Bridge of Clay

by Markus Zusak
534 pgs

In Bridge of Clay, Markus Zusak tells the story of the Dunbar family. Penelope, the mother, who died of cancer three years before the book begins; Michael, the father, who abandoned their five sons shortly afterwards, and the five brothers, left to fend for themselves.

The oldest son, Matthew, narrates the story and begins it on the day their father -- whom they refer to as the murderer -- returns to ask whether any of the boys would be willing to help him build a bridge. Four of his sons don't want anything to do with him, but Clay, the second to youngest, decides to drop out of high school to help his father.

From there the story jumps back and forth in time, going back to tell the story of Penelope, who grew up in the Eastern Bloc of Europe when it was controlled by the Soviet Union, and who became an accomplished pianist under the tutelage of her stern father. She met Michael when the piano she bought was incorrectly delivered to his house further down her street. They fell in love, were married, and had five sons.

The story is nowhere near as simplistic as it sounds, which has its pros and cons. On the positive side, the story is packed full of symbolism and emotion. Zusak does a great job of telling the story of a family torn apart by death and grief, and the emotions and raw nerves they leave behind are on full display. But I think Zusak got in his own way too often in trying to tell the story the way he did. Part of my issues with the book may have been a result of me listening to the book, instead of reading it.The story jumps back and forth in time abruptly and I found it difficult to follow the shifts while listening. I'm assuming it was clearer on the written page. My other complaint was that I think Zusak tried to cram an 800-page story into a 500-page book. It would have been better had it gone through another round or two of editing.

One last thought on the book is this: in the United States, it was marketed as a young adult book. It's not, nor was it marketed as one in any other country.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆