A beautiful "new romance classic." The story is about Francesca, a farmer's wife in Iowa, and Robert, a photographer for National Geographic. The two meet when Robert visits Iowa to take pictures of several covered bridges and happens to stop and ask Francesca for directions while her husband and two children are out of town. The two have an incredible attraction to each other and end up spending several days together and falling deeply in love. Robert wants Francesca to leave with him, but she ultimately does not because she can't bear the thought of abandoning her family. The story is told from Francesca's point of view 22 years later as she's reminiscing on her time with Robert.It's interesting to compare this to The Awakening by Kate Chopin - both are books written from the point of view of married women with children; in both books, the women cheat on their husbands; neither can deny the attraction they have toward these men, but they both have feelings of remorse and confusion. But The Awakening was written in 1890's, Bridges in the 1990's; in The Awakening, Edna leaves her husband and then kills herself; in Bridges, Francesca stays with her husband although she never stops loving Robert; The Awakening was written by a woman; Bridges written by a man.
I'm still not sure why this book sold 50 million copies! ... but it was a wonderful story. I'd love to check out the movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment