Her life ends in the same inconsequential way as she lived it. Mrs Bridge has some inkling of the social changes around her, but does not think them through: social, racial and gender inequalities, mental health issues, the war in Europe. An underlying theme is of change during her life. Her one attempt to access psychiatric help is dismissed out of hand by Mr Bridge. The overwhelming impression of Mrs Bridgeis of a life that counts for very little, a person who is unable to make changes for herself and defers to her husband on all issues. She finds herself bored and unable to find a way out of her situation. A birthday trip to Europe is interesting but cut short by German invasion of Poland.

She flirts with the idea of learning Spanish, does a little charity work, runs useless errands, socialises and gossips with her friends. The children grow up, and she understands them less and less and they grow away from her. It the early years she raises three children. It would be wrong to call Mrs Bridge a housewife as they employ ‘a young colored girl named Harriet to do the cooking and cleaning’ (6). The family live in a big house in the Country Club district. He spends time working hard to provide his family with what they want, but depriving them of his presence. Mrs Bridge lives in Kansas City and is married to a lawyer of considerable reputation and increasing wealth in the years after the First World War. The American writer Evan S Connell has succeeded in the challenge of representing a life limited and circumscribed by convention and in which very little happens, in a way which captures the interest and the sympathy of the reader.

Thanks to Simon Lavery for bringing it to my attention and for recommending it. I did not include Mrs Bridge when I wrote my recent post about fiction with titles in their titles: Books with Mrs or Miss in the title.

Novel mrs bridge