The other day, I came across a first edition of Evan S. Connell’s Mrs. Bridge (1959) in the mud room. “I didn’t know we had this!” I exclaimed.
The ’50s cover art is whimsical: the old-fashioned black phone on a white table, dwarfed by a large pink mass (Mrs. Bridge’s knitting? A hat?), and white gloves and a white scarf tucked beneath the pink. The white paper cut-outs are juxtaposed and contrasted with the black table legs.
“I adored this when I read it, ” I said. Back then I related to Mrs. Bridge, a housewife in Kansas City, who has ups and downs. and becomes less conventional as the year pass. I have nothing in common with Mrs. Bridge, but that’s the wonderful thing about fiction: sometimes we become the characters as we read.
I found a handwritten receipt tucked inside the cover. I bought the book on Jan. 12, 1991, at an antiquarian bookshop. I suppose it closed long ago.
And the price of the book was $9.
“You got robbed,” said the captain. “This isn’t in good condition.”
I didn’t think about condition when I bought used books back then.
I wonder what I would think about Mrs. Bridge now. I reread it some years back in a paperback and was less enthusiastic. At different stages of life, we read things differently.
But I am inspired by the old-fashioned jacket copy. This writer says, “Mrs. Bridge is a totally delightful reading experience. It brings in turn the wry smile, the outright laugh, and shows the pang of a deep and willing sympathy.”
That’s a book I want to read.
I read the Bridge novels (Mr. & Mrs.) many years ago and liked them both. Like you, I’m not sure how they’d strike me now, although I’ve not-very-seriously considered a re-read (so many books etc). I do intend to read Connell’s The Connoisseur, which I discovered through a NYT column (think it was the now defunct “Read Like the Wind”). I love the idea of an insurance guy upending his life when he becomes enraptured by art!
Loved the Bridge books, love Read Like the Wind, and pray the latter isn’t now defunct! The chapters in Mrs. Bridge are very short – 100 of them– so I may be able to gallop through it. More Connell, please! 🙂
I’m afraid Read Like the Wind is a goner. Your comment prompted me to do a quick bit of research, to confirm that RLTW is no more (NYT now occasionally sends out book recommendations by email/newsletter but they’re not nearly as interesting or entertaining). Molly Young now has a substack address that seems to emphasize personal type essays but also offers some book recommendations. There’s no free reads but you can sign up for a seven day free trial, which I did. I’d prefer more book recommendations but Young is a talented writer and the site is fun.
Oh my God. Thanks for the information. What a sad state of affairs. I love reading about older books, and can’t help but think that lots of us will miss it!.