Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Book Review ~ The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury




 Charlie and Donna Barton  own the Bridge, a popular new and used book store where the people of Franklin come not only for books but for coffee and good company.  Charlie considers it not only a vocation but a ministry and the couple have never made much money as Charlie literally gives away books for a fraction of the cost to those who can't afford the full price. When the 100 year flood sweeps through town and literally wipes out the store, Charlie hangs on with everything he's got to get the store going again.  But with the insurance company giving him very little and the building owner pulling the lease and only giving him a week to purchase the store, Charlie feels likes he's failed everyone.  Filled with anxiety and worry, he doesn't know what to do.   When a horrible accident occurs, it looks like all hope is gone.

 In this quaint and loving store, Molly Allen and Ryan Kelly come to study during their college years.  Building a deep friendship which turns to love they are both devastated when life & percieved reality pulls them in different directions.  With broken hearts and neither really understanding how the breakup could have occurred they try to move on with their lives.  When Ryan learns of what happened to the bookstore and the tragedy that has come upon the Barton's he rallies the former customers of the Bridge bringing Molly back into his life if only for a short time.

This is a sweet story of second chances.  Centered around a bookstore.  What could be better than that?  Seriously though, it was a lovely story, easily read,  reiterating the fact of how our deeply our lives can touch others even when we don't realize it.  A Hallmark movie kind of story.   The story tugs on the heart strings with the two different story lines.  It was nice "escape" read to start off the year, one that doesn't make you think too much.  I will say though, that considering it is a very short story, the price paid was way too much.  In Canada the hard cover was around the 20 dollar mark. It's a smaller sized book and double spaced so it was a mite deceptive in length for the price.

4 comments:

Karen said...

Sounds like a sweet story. Maybe a good one to check out from the library.

Barbara H. said...

I had that same thought -- it sounded like a Hallmark movie. But it was enjoyable overall.

I dislike when books are published in hardback only.

Kathie said...

Thanks for the book recommendation Susanne - I was just asking for some on my blog!

I'll check to see if my library has it. They carry quite a few Karen Kingsbury books.

Faith said...

Oh I like karen kingsbury and her books WOULD make great movies!! one of those curl up with a daughter and a fleece blankie on a cold snowy evening kind of movies :)
I will see if our library has it. We seem to have several CHristian books lately! I actually found Grace by Max Lucado in the library.....it was great!