I am almost trembling thinking about writing about this beautiful, powerful novel. I loved it, loved it, loved it! I don’t know where to start, but Lisa helped me when she said, “Tell me why I would want to read this novel, Nan? Convince me.”
Of course, as most readers will attest, a book this mammoth (almost 600 pages) must appeal on a larger level since it is about the years before and during WWII, but also it must appeal on a humanitarian level with attention to personal relationships– for after all, isn’t that how we relate and reach our moments of clarity and experience beauty in this world?
Picture a young male Jewish architectural student who has recently immigrated from Hungary after winning a prized scholarship rarely awarded to someone who has no previous portfolio. By a mere chance occurrence, he literally bumps into a woman who asks him to deliver a letter to an unknown recipient as he is leaving to go to architectural school in Paris. If the letter had not been in his possession, then the rest of the novel would not have happened.
Now picture a thirty-two year old strikingly beautiful ballet instructor who has been teaching little Parisian girls how to dance since she immigrated, also from Hungary, for a totally different reason, a decade or more earlier. Then, the young architect and the young ballet instructor meet. I could stop right here with what at this point seems a fairy tale set in Paris pre-WWII when life was good, love was young, and romance abounded! However, reality encroaches, both in the form of a remembered violent past of the ballet teacher, and in the form of menacing approaching Nazi power.
While the language and gorgeous settings that author Julie Orringer chooses for the Paris love affair seem nearly perfect and remarkably flowing, the language she selects for the next part of the book, which incidentally is divided into five historical sections, is equally descriptive and fitting for a war ravaged people and their surroundings in Europe. So, back to what Lisa asked me, “Why do I want to read this?” Though I am certainly not a WWII or Holocaust reader, I have ended up in the last few months now, reading Beatrice and Virgil, The Glass Room, and The Invisible Bridge (And I would recommend these three books in this order.) If you had told me that I would read this many war novels ever, much less in one six month period, I would have probably laughed at you!
So, if you can see where I am going with this line of thought or not, please bear with me. In spite of the horrific and deplorable physical situations experienced by the protagonist architect and his Jewish brothers, who were also enlisted in the Hungarian army as work laborers, and despite of the lack of food, shelter, and basis life essentials denied the family left behind, what kept me reading were the relationships between the men who fought and the women and children who remained behind. Essentially what kept me reading was watching from afar their love and their undying devotion to each other in spite of the indescribable and deplorable hardships being experienced by both groups. In other words, this book placed war on a human, understandable level for me. The fear that these Jewish families experienced on a daily basis was written about with compassion and angst. And yes, I came to detest Hitler in a way I never have! Though it was not easy for me to read about the tyrant and his despicable generals, nor was it easy for me to read about the personal loss that so many families suffered, encompassing so many gut wrenching proportions, it was worth it. I ended up with a renewed sense of knowing that in spite of evil in this world, both past, present, and future, and no matter what form it takes, whether national, international, or political, human devotion and love get people through it all. Julie Orringer sent this message to me, loud and clear.
Before this begins to sound like a never ending diatribe, I want to thank our friends at Random House, Valerie Walley, whom many will remember worked at Lemuria in the 80s and who is now working in New York for Random House, as well as a Random House rep, Liz Sullivan who comes to Lemuria periodically telling us which books to read and dropping off ARCs (advanced reader copies). If it had not been for Liz telling me how much she and Valerie both loved this novel, I might not have tackled such a long read. So, thanks to both of them!
Lisa showed me a video done by Green Apple Bookstore in San Francisco which features a young woman who cannot seem to put The Invisible Bridge down. I can really identify with this reader! Obviously, this well written, absolutely beautiful novel grabbed me, and in a way, still has me in its clutches, even two weeks after I read the closing epilogue, which was a remarkable way for the author to tie the pieces together for future generations of characters. READ THIS NOVEL! -Nan
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