The Safe Bridge

by Frances Parkinson Keyes

Elizabeth Burr made a lonely journey from the wind-whipped highlands of Scotland to the rocky hills of a New England settlement to begin building a bridge between two worlds. Elizabeth's dour father could not countenance her clandestine meetings with her British soldier. He declared that his daughter was "dead" as far as he was concerned. Elizabeth's rebirth took place across an ocean on the brink of a turbulent, dangerous new frontier, where hardships and unexpected violence became the fabric of her life...and where an astonishing turn of events forced her to make an agonizing romantic choice.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction

253 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

Frances Parkinson Keyes was an American author who wrote about her life as the wife of a U.S. Senator and novels set in New England, Louisiana, and Europe. A convert to Roman Catholicism, her later works frequently featured Catholic themes and beliefs. Her last name rhymes with "skies," not "keys."

Reviews

[Diane Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book set in Vermont during the early 1800's. There were religious overtones that kept bringing to mind The Scarlet Letter. According to the author's note, the story and the characters are based on real people and events.

[Terry Bourbon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book. It had definite passages of flighty romance novel language, and to a casual reader, some of the plot might seem a little contrived. What I liked most about the book is that it is based on a true family and many of the "characters" are real people that lived in colonial Vermont. I was given a paperback by a friend to read, this friend is a descendent of this family. So I read it with different eyes than looking for a light story. The book was inscribed by the family member's mom, and had a mini geneology in the back. The author has her own notes in the back detailing the historical names and facts. She changed some names, but that part of the book I found most fascinating.

As to the plot, what I also liked is that the main character, Elizabeth Burr, is a really strong woman with strong ideals, and despite disappointments and trevails, she overcomes them. She is a woman of faith and morals, and though she is sorely tempted in a period of trouble with her husband, she does not leave him, but stays and works it out. This quiet truth in the book rings with a truth that these types of novels don't usually have.

[Mole Mann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her sense of contentment and well-being grew apace; it was reflected in her physical attributes no less than in her mental tranquility.
An alright story. I think it's better than the previous novel from Keyes (Joy Street) because its more concise. The story is ok but the thing that really appealed to me in this is the scenery of Vermont's rugged wilderness that Keyes paints. And it gets surprisingly dark, with stillbirths and famines being plot points in the novel. The characters are very "of-their-times" for the 1930s, including the somewhat insensitive Native character who basically speaks in caveman-language.