The Bridge

by Maggie Hemingway

In the summer of 1887 a chance meeting between the painter Philip Wilson Steer and a young woman leads to an intense, forbidden love. As the days grow shorter so family ties and Victorian proprieties close in, bringing a tragic conclusion.

174 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This brilliant novel by Maggie Hemingway (1946-1993) offers a purely speculative glimpse into the love life of the British landscape painter Philip Wilson Steer (1860-1942). In the early summer of 1887, Philip arrives in Walberswick, on the Suffolk coast, as he had each year since completing his education, intending to use the time to sketch and paint. Also summering in Walberswick is Isobel Heatherington, who arrives with her three daughters, Sophie, Marie and Emma, to take up residence in Quay House. Isobel’s husband, preoccupied with business dealings, stays behind in London. Philip initially spots Isobel from a distance, in the company of her daughters, and is instantly smitten by the young woman’s delicate beauty and mournful air of vulnerability. Then, by chance, Philip meets the girls on the beach. This leads to an invitation to lunch, followed by further invitations to outings in the countryside. Ultimately, Philip becomes a fixture at Quay House and an intimate of the Heatherington family, which includes Isobel’s watchful Aunt Jude. The attraction between Isobel and Philip springs up quickly and soon develops into an ardent though unacknowledged passion, leaving them confused, heartsick, sleep-deprived and at war with forbidden urges. Isobel, bored with her marriage, emotionally detached from her husband, resents her position as someone who is under constant observation—whose every mood, gesture and stray glance is noted and discussed—and longs for even a moment of unfettered solitude to do as she pleases. Philip, emotionally reticent, devoted to his art, is a novice where love is concerned. However, he knows one thing for certain: that in Victorian England what he and Isobel feel for each other has the power to destroy them both. Maggie Hemingway tells her story from a variety of points of view, seamlessly and effortlessly moving from one to another, sometimes within a single scene. Hemingway’s sympathetic depiction of two people struggling against unruly desires, trying to adhere to the oppressive moral restrictions of Victorian society is suspenseful and deeply moving. What elevates the book to triumphant near-classic status is Hemingway’s evocative, atmospheric prose, which endows the village of Walberswick and the natural beauty in which the characters are immersed with a bright immediacy that is often so vivid as to seem magical. The Bridge, the first of Maggie Hemingway’s four novels, won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize and was adapted into a movie in 1992.

[Elspeth Rushbrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are times when the description is brilliant and part of the story. The languid prose is painterly, but of a different style of painter. The tiny and exact details – such as the dolphins on the staircase – are more Constable than Philip Wilson Steer, who uses dashes of his brush more than the meticulous precision of etching to make his paintings.

Emma, the youngest daughter, begins the story – somewhat oddly. I like the line on p3: “She could not bring herself to arrive”. If it had been my book, that would have been my opening line.

We share the perspective – often in dashes rather than particularities – of many characters, but we are often seeing the scene from Emma’s canvas, especially those where her mother and Mr Steer seem to be particular friends. But Emma’s voice ceases at the turning point; the scene is told from the perspective of her aunt, and Emma is delirious, unaware of her words. We do not hear from Emma again. This is one of many queries I have.

In my most recent reading, I liked the book more and added a star. The writing is masterly, but despite disappointments and critique, this story has continued to haunt me for over 20 years.

Further thoughts at https://elspethr.wordpress.com/2016/0... where I've got more space!

[Barbara Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some nice descriptions in places but little overwritten for my taste.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a story of love frustrated by the strictures of Victorian class and morality seen through modern eyes I couldn't help but compare this novel to The Go-Between (it is partly seen through a child's eyes, too) and A Month in the Country; it's also reminiscent of Isabel Colgate's Victorian fictions. In fact, read now it seems part of a theme in English writing of the time (AS Byatt, too) and perhaps less original than it might have when first published, but it's nicely written, concise and affecting. It helps that I know the Suffolk locations, which are beautifully evoked. It deserves to be better known along with the other three novels from the author's sadly short career.

[India Mavers · Rating 4 out of 5]

never been able to forget this book

if ‘rebecca’ and ‘to kill a mocking bird’ were reworked into an oil painting, it would somehow be this book

more niche than i thought it was so knowing its pages feels like a pretty secret :)

[Hirosasazaki Sasazaki · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice interpretation on Philip Steer's work. The unwitten history. I enjoyed it.