The Other Side Of The Bridge By Mary Lawson

The story is set in a rural community in Canada in the 1930s, 40s and 50s.  It is a book about relationships.  The story revolves around the Dunn family farm.  We know from the beginning that Arthur Dunn and his younger brother Jake have always had a turbulent relationship.   Ian, who is fifteen, goes to work on the Dunn’s farm to escape the tensions of his home life and because he has a schoolboy infatuation with Arthur’s beautiful wife, Laura.  Ian becomes adept at helping on the farm and gradually gets to know and respect the sometimes reticent Arthur.   Everything seems peaceful on the farm until the day that Jake comes home.   The chapters alternate between Arthur’s point of view in the 1930s and Ian’s point of view in the 1950s.  

The Lighthouse by Alison Moore

I found this a dark sad tale.  The loneliness seeps from the book.  The story opens with Futh as he sets out on a ferry for Germany.  He is newly separated from his wife and is taking a restorative walking holiday in Germany.  Futh is awkward and not good at handling emotions or social situations.  As he walks he contemplates.  He remembers his childhood, his mother, father and wife.  The book is permeated with smells and these act as triggers for Futh’s memory.  Interspersed with Futh’s narrative we hear Ester, another lonely person looking for affection.  Their paths cross when Futh spends the first night of his walking holiday at Hellhaus, the hotel Ester runs with her husband Bernard.  Their paths cross again at the end of the book.  It is a short read at 182 pages.  I enjoyed it and found it a thought provoking read.