Orlagh Cassidy delivers Betsy Lerner’s tender memoir with warmth and affection. Lerner lets us in on her early strained relationship with her mother. Once she moves back to New Haven, Connecticut, at age 54, however, her own life experiences open her eyes and heart to her mother, now 83. From her conversations with the regulars of her mother’s Monday afternoon bridge club, we get to know the women Lerner has seen every Monday for years without really knowing them. Cassidy presents the women’s histories—their marriages and careers, their trials and triumphs. As Lerner develops insights into the women, she gains a deeper respect for each as well as an understanding of her mother’s life. Cassidy’s Yiddish pronunciations are off, but, overall, she’s terrific in this touching story. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
The Bridge Ladies: A Memoir
Narrated by Orlagh Cassidy
Betsy LernerUnabridged — 8 hours, 51 minutes
The Bridge Ladies: A Memoir
Narrated by Orlagh Cassidy
Betsy LernerUnabridged — 8 hours, 51 minutes
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Overview
A fifty-year-old Bridge game provides an unexpected way to cross the generational divide between a daughter and her mother. Betsy Lerner takes us on a powerfully personal literary journey, where we learn a little about Bridge and a lot about life.
After a lifetime defining herself in contrast to her mother's “don't ask, don't tell” generation, Lerner finds herself back in her childhood home, not five miles from the mother she spent decades avoiding. When Roz needs help after surgery, it falls to Betsy to take care of her. She expected a week of tense civility; what she got instead were the Bridge Ladies. Impressed by their loyalty, she saw something her generation lacked. Facebook was great, but it wouldn't deliver a pot roast.
Tentatively at first, Betsy becomes a regular at her mother's Monday Bridge club. Through her friendships with the ladies, she is finally able to face years of misunderstandings and family tragedy, the Bridge table becoming the common ground she and Roz never had.
By turns darkly funny and deeply moving, The Bridge Ladies is the unforgettable story of a hard-won-but never-too-late-bond between mother and daughter.
Editorial Reviews
The Bridge Ladies reminded me of Tuesdays with Morrie, except it takes place on Mondays and has five Morries. Exquisitely written, in this book are portraits of five women whose like we won’t see again. I devoured it in one greedy sitting, and started re-reading as soon as I finished.
A searching, funny, warm memoir.
This is the best book about mothers and daughters I’ve read in decades, maybe ever. It’s about mother-daughter conflict, the desire to love and be loved, aging and loss, discovery and renewal. Betsy Lerner is a beautiful, achingly honest writer, and The Bridge Ladies is at once heartbreaking and hilarious.
Lerner takes us on a journey of understanding: the card game, the women who play it, their lives and relationships. In Lerner’s beautifully observed account, Bridge becomes both a literal and figurative pathway to repairing an even more precious bond: her own relationship to her mother.
Betsy Lerner’s ladies are our ladies, our mothers, grandmothers, and aunts. Lerner takes us back to their tables, capturing a group of wonderful American women—growing older now and braving new battles—with sweetness, humor and sharp perceptiveness. This is a book with heart and feeling.
Through the alchemy of a grand game, Betsy Lerner has woven a universal coming-of-age story for both mother and daughter. A poignant, humorous and often painful struggle through the pageantry of playing cards; a woman’s face on every one.
The Bridge Ladies is an uplifting account of a baby boomer’s attempt to understand her mother’s generation. Lerner never lets herself off the hook, either, and the result is candid, fresh and enlightening.
A book for two generations.
A deeply affecting memoir...a generous and honest examination, she honors these women’s lives
A smart and colorful memoir.
A heartfelt and affecting memoir.
Lerner’s memoir makes a case for spending time together under the rules of neutrality imposed by a game, and approach to living that refrains from over-sharing and outward complaining to concentrate on the task at hand. The bridge ladies are there for one another, even as they keep their feelings to themselves and play on.
A searching, funny, warm memoir.
Orlagh Cassidy delivers Betsy Lerner’s tender memoir with warmth and affection. Lerner lets us in on her early strained relationship with her mother. Once she moves back to New Haven, Connecticut, at age 54, however, her own life experiences open her eyes and heart to her mother, now 83. From her conversations with the regulars of her mother’s Monday afternoon bridge club, we get to know the women Lerner has seen every Monday for years without really knowing them. Cassidy presents the women’s histories—their marriages and careers, their trials and triumphs. As Lerner develops insights into the women, she gains a deeper respect for each as well as an understanding of her mother’s life. Cassidy’s Yiddish pronunciations are off, but, overall, she’s terrific in this touching story. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
Product Details
BN ID: | 2940173830821 |
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Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
Publication date: | 05/03/2016 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |