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Mrs Bridge by Evan S Connell


 

'Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.'
                                                                                    Machiavelli 

Not a quote from the book, but a line that kept coming to mind as I read on through the life of Mrs Bridge.  All those of you who think that our lives have never been put through such scrutiny should spare a thought for the Country Club classes living in Kansas between the wars.

The picture on the cover is very apt because the story is told through a collection of short accounts that gradually develop into a detailed personality portrait of India Bridge.  Throughout the book the reader is in no doubt that appearances matter, and polite society in the 1920s and 30s is underpinned by highly refined rules of etiquette that allow the professional families to feel safe in their world.

There are rules for the use of table napkins, guest towels and refreshments for an afternoon bridge party; and the wives and children understand that everything about them reflects on the man of the house so they must never let him down.  Mrs Bridge accepts all of this, and is grateful that Mr Bridge works so hard to provide her and their three children with such a comfortable home and lifestyle. As the children grow up, Mrs Bridge is faced with the usual family conflicts and she discovers that her children will never be as compliant as she is as times are changing and becoming more unpredictable.

Each section, when taken in isolation, may seem quite inconsequential, but there are various underlying threads that dig deeper than the need for using antimacassars (protective linen covers to go on the back of upholstered chairs).  Kansas was one of the more enlightened states when it came to the use of racial segregation but it didn't mean to say that everyone was treated equally.  Mrs Bridge is nothing but polite to anyone she meets, but the people who work for her are much more likely to come from minority groups, and she would not be expected to socialise with people in her employment.  In one of the sections another member of the family uses racist language that is very offensive but at the time would simply have been regarded as rather coarse and the opinion behind it would not have been unusual.

The book was first published in 1959, so Evan S. Connell would have known people who lived though this period of time and that accounts for the sharp accuracy of the period detail.  I have discovered online that the author later wrote a follow-up book called Mr Bridge and that has immediately been added to my list of books to look out for.  I don't know what younger readers would make of this but I loved it.


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