Bridge of Sighs

By: Richard Russo

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Length: 26 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Six years after the best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning Empire Falls, Richard Russo returns with a novel that expands even further his widely heralded achievement.

Louis Charles ("Lucy") Lynch has spent all of his 60 years in upstate Thomaston, New York, married to the same woman, Sarah, for 40 of them, with their son now a grown man. Like his late, beloved father, Lucy is an optimist, though he's had plenty of reasons not to be - chief among them his mother, still indomitably alive. Yet it was her shrewdness, combined with that Lynch optimism, that had propelled them years ago to the right side of the tracks and created an "empire" of convenience stores about to be passed on to the next generation.

Lucy and Sarah are also preparing for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Italy, where his oldest friend, a renowned painter, has exiled himself far from anything they'd known in childhood. In fact, the exact nature of their friendship is one of the many mysteries Lucy hopes to untangle in the "history" he's writing of his hometown and family. And with his story interspersed with that of Noonan, the native son who'd fled so long ago, the destinies building up around both of them (and Sarah, too) are relentless, constantly surprising, and utterly revealing.

©2007 Richard Russo (P)2007 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Largehearted, vividly populated and filled with life from America's recent, still vanishing past." ( Publishers Weekly)

Very good- great writer & story

I enjoyed this book very much. It is very nostalgic of life growing up in the 60’s and a simpler time - fabulous character development- I hope Russo writes more books I love them all

So much heart

Richard Russo does it again. These characters say so much without saying a lot. Gentle, vulnerable and imperfect, the players suck you in to their lives.

Finding One's True Purpose

Russo, with the help of Arthur Morey's well-tuned narration, makes Lucy come to life in this audiobook as the kind of wise fool you can't forget. A pushover, a lovable patsy, and an easygoing but conscientious lump of a man, Lucy finally gets a chance to look at the road not taken. His best friend ran off to be a painter when they were still teenagers, and now Lucy faces the prospect of losing him again.

Not his best, but still better than 90% of ...

What made the experience of listening to Bridge of Sighs the most enjoyable?

Richard Russo wrote it.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Bridge of Sighs?

The trauma to a young boy at the hand of bullies.

What aspect of Arthur Morey’s performance would you have changed?

A bit more dynamic, but not necessary when reading Russo.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. Twenty something hours is a bit much for one sitting.

Any additional comments?

Not as good as Nobody's Fool or That Old Cape Magic, but it's Richard Russo and I just love his writing. This had some plot points, especially at the end, that I couldn't buy - just didn't fit with the stories that had preceded the ending bits. Uncharacteristically unconvincing 2-dimensional characters, but they were just a couple of bit parts thrown in at the end. I think the book would have been better without them, but the book still has hundreds and hundreds of pages of his lush prose.

The other weakness of this book compared to his previous works that I've read is that this one is really light in the humor department. He has some wacky moments, but basically this is a much more somber work than the others I've read.

As Good as It Gets

This is an excellent book and it is perfectly read. Hard to imagine a better book. This is much deeper than most of Russo's other books. The is a pearl of sweet wisdom, never too nostagalic, in nearly every paragraph. I confess, I love every character except Buddy.

Can't recomment this book enough.

Depressing tale of lives wasted

Would you recommend Bridge of Sighs to your friends? Why or why not?

Not as a first book. The story is too depressing. "Nobody's Fool" and "Empire Falls" had similar stories but at least some of the characters had somewhat uplifting lives. And "Straight Man" was funny and poignant.

Any additional comments?

I really like Richard Russo, grew up in upstate NY and can relate to the characters in his stories. But, the characters and story in "Bridge of Sighs" are just too depressing. In the end, Bobby dies just like the Doctor in Dr. Zhivago, and Bobby is the only one to live a life with some vigor and hope. Some people escape the small town to see the rest of the world.

Not his best book.

I am a real Russo fan, but this one didn’t meet my expectations. Still worth reading, but the under developed characters and the chopped up storyline weren’t very appealing to me.

Mispronunciation overshadowed story

Unfortunately, the narrators mispronunciation of Cayuga very much annoyed me. The name comes up about 50 times, and I feel I noticed it every time. Doesn’t anybody check pronunciation of proper names in recordings? Otherwise, the narrator was very good. FYI: it’s CaYOUga. Not CayOga.

may be the best

I've been a member of Audible since 2001 and have heard a lot of wonderful books and this was one of the very best! I loved the length of the book and the depth that Russo developed the characters. None of the characters were totally good or evil- just like real people. One thing I really liked was the insight he had in the understanding of the characters as they aged and developed. The different stories came together to keep the book interesting. I hope it doesn't take years for Russo to write another. However long it takes, it will be worth it.

Best of Richard Russo's Writings

My favorite Russo books in this order-
1. Straight Man
2. Nobody's Fool
3. Empire Falls

but now Bridge of Sighs takes the lead. It took me about 3 chapters to really get into the groove of it. But by the end I was sad to leave. Fantastic character development and the story was breathtaking. His best work so far.