The Invisible Bridge

electronic resource

English language

Published April 8, 2010 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

ISBN:: 978-0-307-59371-9
OCLC Number:: 644553716

(1 review)

Julie Orringer's astonishing first novel, eagerly awaited since the publication of her heralded best-selling short-story collection, How to Breathe Underwater ("fiercely beautiful"--The New York Times; "unbelievably good"--Monica Ali), is a grand love story set against the backdrop of Budapest and Paris, an epic tale of three brothers whose lives are ravaged by war, and the chronicle of one family's struggle against the forces that threaten to annihilate it.Paris, 1937. Andras Levi, a Hungarian-Jewish architecture student, arrives from Budapest with a scholarship, a single suitcase, and a mysterious letter he has promised to deliver to C. Morgenstern on the rue de Sevigne. As he falls into a complicated relationship with the letter's recipient, he becomes privy to a secret history that will alter the course of his own life. Meanwhile, as his elder brother takes up medical studies in Modena and their younger brother leaves school for the stage, Europe's unfolding …

Julie Orringer's astonishing first novel, eagerly awaited since the publication of her heralded best-selling short-story collection, How to Breathe Underwater ("fiercely beautiful"--The New York Times; "unbelievably good"--Monica Ali), is a grand love story set against the backdrop of Budapest and Paris, an epic tale of three brothers whose lives are ravaged by war, and the chronicle of one family's struggle against the forces that threaten to annihilate it.Paris, 1937. Andras Levi, a Hungarian-Jewish architecture student, arrives from Budapest with a scholarship, a single suitcase, and a mysterious letter he has promised to deliver to C. Morgenstern on the rue de Sevigne. As he falls into a complicated relationship with the letter's recipient, he becomes privy to a secret history that will alter the course of his own life. Meanwhile, as his elder brother takes up medical studies in Modena and their younger brother leaves school for the stage, Europe's unfolding tragedy sends each of their lives into terrifying uncertainty. At the end of Andras's second summer in Paris, all of Europe erupts in a cataclysm of war.From the small Hungarian town of Konyar to the grand opera houses of Budapest and Paris, from the lonely chill of Andras's room on the rue des Ecoles to the deep and enduring connection he discovers on the rue de Sevigne, from the despair of Carpathian winter to an unimaginable life in forced labor camps and beyond, The Invisible Bridge tells the story of a love tested by disaster, of brothers whose bonds cannot be broken, of a family shattered and remade in history's darkest hour, and of the dangerous power of art in a time of war.Expertly crafted, magnificently written, emotionally haunting, and impossible to put down, The Invisible Bridge resoundingly confirms Julie Orringer's place as one of today's most vital and commanding young literary talents.From the Hardcover edition.

3 editions

Sharyl reviewed The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer

Review of 'The Invisible Bridge' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This story is unusually moving and will stick with me for quite awhile. World War II is the backdrop of many novels, and this one follows the lives of Andras Levi and his brothers. Their lives start in Hungary, where they develop their personalities, dreams, and goals. The author draws their young lives in detail, and so we know how they viewed their world before the war--the things they worried about, what they did with their friends, and their romances. Andras was focused on getting a degree in architecture in Paris and struggling with his finances. He'd also fallen in love, and was looking forward to a life with Klara and dreaming of creating buildings. Andras was young, talented, and had a future. This was 1937.

Gradually, the political climate becomes scary, and Andras's carefully constructed life in Paris begins to fall apart. First, his scholarship is cancelled because he …

This story is unusually moving and will stick with me for quite awhile. World War II is the backdrop of many novels, and this one follows the lives of Andras Levi and his brothers. Their lives start in Hungary, where they develop their personalities, dreams, and goals. The author draws their young lives in detail, and so we know how they viewed their world before the war--the things they worried about, what they did with their friends, and their romances. Andras was focused on getting a degree in architecture in Paris and struggling with his finances. He'd also fallen in love, and was looking forward to a life with Klara and dreaming of creating buildings. Andras was young, talented, and had a future. This was 1937.

Gradually, the political climate becomes scary, and Andras's carefully constructed life in Paris begins to fall apart. First, his scholarship is cancelled because he is Jewish, but he finds work and survives this. However, a couple years later, he finds that his visa is suddenly no good--he is told that he needs to return to Budapest to renew it. However, upon arrival in Budapest, Andras learns that this is not possible. His dream of finishing school in Paris is over.

This is crushing, but as the story proceeds, things get gradually worse for all of them. Andras and his brothers are called up to serve in the Munkaszolgálat, or Hungarian work service, which meant hard, forced labor. They were separated from their new wives and families, called up at different times and sent to different places. After a period of time, the men were sent home and told that their service was over, but would later be called up again. Each time, the separation from their families is heartbreaking, and each time, it gets more dangerous, their chances of survival getting slimmer.

Julie Orringer's characters are real people. Andras's brothers, parents, wife, friends--all of them are characters the reader is compelled to care about. Orringer has created some unforgettable scenes in this remarkable novel.