
Bridge of Sighs
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $29.25
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Arthur Morey
-
By:
-
Richard Russo
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.Listeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
People who viewed this also viewed...


















I fell in love with the people because they had roots in the town and in their family. I rooted for them to find happiness and they did. None of them got exactly what they wanted, but they lived interesting and rewarding lives and made the best of what what life gave.
The story captures real people who were judged unworthy by fate to live out their dreams, but unlike the hopeless Venetians, their sighs were more of exasperation than hopelessness.
This book will keep you involved to the end.
A Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Wonderful
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I too wanted to be in Ikey Rubin's shop, being spoilt by Big Lou and his wife; I too fell in love with Bobby...oh Bobby.
The narrator did a fine job with the different characters' voices. At first I found his pace slow; but I came to realize that this pace fitted in perfectly with the main "teller" of the story, Lucy (Lou C. Lynch)who himself was rather slow and ponderous in everything he did.
If you're a fan of fast paced dramas with a gripping, detailed storyline then this probably isn't the right book for you. But if you like a novel with excellent characterizations that makes you think about life and love and engrosses you in an imaginary world and it's people, then you should thoroughly enjoy this.
Engrossing
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Bridge of Sighs
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
captivating and rich
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I didn't want to leave
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Family love
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The lives of a handful of individuals from a factory-class Upstate New York town are both nuanced and elaborate. Each character is so rich, so full of faults and strengths, kindness and selfishness, that the town - divided into it's sectors of poor and middle class - seems to slowly become palpable as we get more and more familiar with its houses, stores and streets.
Russo's true gift is to underscore, without much action or special plot, the tumultuous inner lives of everyday people. Childhood, family, relationships (both young and old - casual and passionate), mean different things to people who are co-existing within them. Russo let's these contradicting expectations collide to a remarkabale and realistic effect. The story moves from past to present and from New York State to Venice (mostly New York) each shift in time and place letting the reader in a little further until we fully understand these multi-dimensional people.
This is a long, satisfying, big American book that communicates its purpose with clarity and precision, The book expands and digresses but there are no wasted words - by the last 1/3 it feels like every little detail is vital. The narration is very good and the writing is intelligent, serene and at times enlightening. I have read three Russo novels and this one is my favorite.
Better than Empire Falls
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Thank you for a wonderful story.
Pure gold!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Readers/listeners who are familiar with the down-on-their-luck towns of his other books (except "Straight Man," which is a whole other delightful story of its own) will feel as though they've come home again. These new characters, too, are flawed, trying hard, making the best of it, making mistakes, coming together, and falling apart. The plot is textured and complex, spanning generations, continents, and social classes. It is wistful, heartbreaking, sweet, sad, and often funny, and although I missed the wisecracking Sully and his friends (if you haven't yet, get "Nobody's Fool"), these people had distinct voices that were just as affecting and effective.
The narrator is terrific, with a nuanced style that reflects the pain (or joy) of the action and the lyricism of the prose.
Wonderful
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.