Wednesday, January 20, 2016

2016 TBR Challenge: The Bridge by Rebecca Rogers Maher

Henry and Christa have the opposite of a "meet cute." They meet on a tower of the Brooklyn Bridge where they have each gone to commit suicide. Each of them feels sure they're making the right decision for themselves, but that they other should live. They strike a bargain---they'll spend 24 hours together trying to change each others' minds. They agree that each one will choose 3 things to show the other, and so they embark on a strange sort of date. As the day goes by they learn about what brought each of them to the bridge. Henry has suffered from severe depression for more than half his life. Medication and therapy have made it possible for him function but the struggle has left him exhausted and the resulting "half life" no longer feels worth the work. Christa survived breast cancer two years ago, but it cost her dearly. When the cancer returns she doesn't have the resources for another fight. This is a tricky story for me to review. On one hand, I liked and cared about Henry and Christa and enjoyed the bond they formed. It was certainly easy to root for them. I liked Maher's writing and admire her willingness to tackle a difficult subject and stretch beyond the usual boundaries of romance. Taken purely as a kind of fairy tale The Bridge is a compelling story and I enjoyed it very much. On the other hand, the psychology is problematic. I could write an essay on it that would be longer than the novella itself, but I'll limit myself to one thing----for a seriously depressed person the decision to commit suicide or not doesn't hinge on whether they love someone else enough. Falling in love doesn't fix mental illness and I wish this story didn't create the impression that it could.