Crossing the Bridge

There are few things better than discovering a new author whose writing you fall immediately in love with. And that's just what's happened with Michael Baron and Crossing the Bridge! Ever since the death of his younger brother 10 years earlier, Hugh Penders has felt his presence acts as a painful reminder of what was lost, and has kept his distance from his parents as a result. But when his father suffers a heart attack, Hugh picks up his life and heads home to small town Amber, Connecticut to help his parents out during this time of need. What begins as a dull and tedious existence, becomes a fresh start at life with the help of some new (and old) friends that Hugh discovers as he re-acquaints himself with his hometown. I can't think of a better way to describe Crossing the Bridge than it felt like 'going home'. I grew up in a small town, so reading Hugh's reactions to returning to Amber felt familiar and comfortable. All of the characters in Crossing the Bridge feel very real - like people you know in everyday life as opposed to characters created for a story. I was very sad to have to say goodbye to them at the end of the book. So much so that I've been dreaming of a sequel. Even though you can kind of see where the story is going from fairly early on, I still found I couldn't put the book down as I was eager to see the next interaction between these characters, and I was never really sure things would turn out the way I hoped. Crossing the Bridge isn't a fast-paced read, but its tale about real people with real issues unfurls slowly and wraps you up in its cozy story. I will definitely be checking out more of Michael Baron's books!

I really enjoyed the beginning of this story. It pulled me in and kept me interested. Hugh's feeling of being trapped, not only in his old home town but in his father's card shop, was portrayed very well. It was almost as if, since Chase never had the chance to continue on with his life that Hugh felt the need to curtail his own life. He never really moved forward all that much from the moment in time when his brother drove off of the bridge. I could see the different meanings as well with crossing a bridge. There was the literal bridge that Chase drove off of, there was the bridge to the future that Hugh didn't want to cross and the bridge to the past that meeting Iris and renewing their friendship showed. At times I got frustrated with Hugh, he was watching his father spend the day in his bathrobe afraid to even climb the stairs because of his heart attack. While he could see how stuck his father was without there being a real need for it, he didn't seem to recognize how stuck he himself was. The moving every year or so to a new job and a new relationship, his fear of developing anything long term or even really starting a career for no real reason. It was so similar to his father but he couldn't see it. When Hugh and Iris renewed their friendship and spent time together I was glad because they both seemed to still be healing from Chase's death ten years before and they were helping each other. It was nice too to see Hugh start to develop some friendships and interests. Unfortunately towards the end of the middle it felt like the novel dragged a bit. I found myself not as keen about picking it up, but this might have been almost purposeful on the authors part to show us how stuck Hugh was with his perception of the past and his inability to go into the future. As the novel started to conclude and pieces started to fall into place I once again felt very engaged by the story. It was a satisfying story. In the end notes from the author he mentions that he is writing under an assumed name as he usually writes non-fiction which has made me curious about his other works. Along with this fiction novel he has another novel that was published prior to this and one that comes out in May. This book will be available tomorrow, January 5th, 2010. Where the book came from: Received from the publisher for review. Thank you The Story Plant for the chance to read this novel.

Hugh Pender has been hopping from one place to another for the past ten years. He has changed girlfriends as often as he has changed jobs, and he has certainly never felt compelled to settle down anywhere. It all began when he left his hometown shortly after his younger brother, Chase, died nearly a decade ago. Now his father has had a heart attack, so Hugh has returned home. He is quickly roped into taking care of the family store, a job he does not relish, and which cannot end soon enough for him. And then he runs into his brother's girlfriend, Iris, with whom he was once secretly in love. They haven't seen each other since Chase's funeral, and as they begin to build a relationship, they both realize they must face the past and reexamine the future. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Despite being annoyed with Hugh a few times, I genuinely liked him and wanted him to be happy. The relationship between Hugh and Iris is wonderfully written: I could feel their love and their pain. And the interactions between Hugh and his parents seemed very real and honest. Even all the characters working and shopping at the family store were well developed. Baron does an excellent job of getting into a character, and allowing us to really see them and care about them. In addition, the story flowed very well. Written from Hugh's perspective, we experience his present-day actions and thoughts, as we are also brought back in time through his memories of his brother. The transitions from today to the past are very smooth and natural. Crossing the Bridge is an easy read, with lovely characters, and a beautiful story of personal growth and love.

Satisfaction. That warm, contented feeling you get after a good cup of hot tea, the first sip of a well-made latte, or waking up at 7.30 in the morning and realising it's Saturday. This is the feeling I got after reading this novel by Michael Baron. It was immensely satisfying. Normally, I'm wary of novels described as "romantic" (and I'm just plain scared of the "romance" genre which is really code for "books about people shagging") but I was happily surprised. Although at the very heart of it this is a love story, it's also a whole lot more than that. Hugh is in his early thirties and is by all accounts a lost soul - he's had a variety of short-lived jobs and left a string of broken hearts across America. The reason behind his lack of direction is the untimely death of his younger brother Chase in a car crash 10 years prior. He has just quit yet another job when his father suffers a heart attack and Hugh decides to come back to Amber, his hometown, to help out. However his visit ends up being longer than he had previously anticipated and sees him taking on more responsibilities than he is comfortable with including helping to run his father's beloved stationery store. He feels trapped and suffocated. There is a ray of light, however, when during his stay, Hugh sees Iris, the woman whom his brother was dating when he died - and whom Hugh has been secretly in love all along and things begin to develop. The character of Hugh is well developed throughout the course of the novel. To begin with I have to admit he grated on me a little with his whining about having to stay in Amber and help out at his father's stationery store for a few weeks and how this was holding up his life, but with time and some other influences he starts to see that the people and places right under his nose are what counts rather than running off to the next town in search of goodness knows what. The character of Chase and what really happened in the months prior to his death adds an element of intrigue and helps keep the reader hooked. Although romantic novels are usually fairly predictable (boy eventually gets girl, happy ever after ensues) this novel wasn't. I wasn't entirely sure what was going to happen until the very end which I appreciated. The novel is more complex than your regular romantic novel and was well written. Plus it was set in Connecticut, a short drive away from where Stars Hollow (home town of the Gilmore Girls) would have been if it were real - who can resist that?! All in all, this is a good read that will keep you occupied on a cold winter's night and leaving you with a sense of satisfaction after you've finished it.

This novel is a slow, elegant glide; with a heart. I am pleased to say that it stole a place in my heart - as well as on my shelf. Being a single mom, I long to find someone with a heart as big as the one Hugh display's within the pages of this novel. The setting's, details and characters are beautiful created. Crossing the Bridge is told via Hugh's point of view, which I found refreshing, most romance novels I have read are written in a woman's POV. I found Hugh, sweet, carrying, and loving - though extremely haunted by the loss of his brother - a loss he's been running from for 10 years. I found myself rooting for Hugh, wanting him to get past his hurt and finally "find himself" and stop running. With that said, occasionally, I found Iris annoying, however after you have lost someone whom you loved dearly - it's tough to trust yourself again. All in all, I enjoyed Crossing the Bridge; Michael Baron really knows how to write an eloquent novel, with a plot that is extremely relatable, even having never lost a brother or a sister, I found myself able to put myself in Hugh's shoes. If you enjoy romantic novels, this is one for you! I give Crossing the Bridge a 4.5 stars - and only because I found the ending a bit rushed.