The Bridge

A brand-new, long story from Tóibín that picks up where A Long Winter ends, with an afterword by the author on the enduring presence of the characters in these stories—in a beautiful stand-alone edition.

A young man named Miquel lives in a house with his father in the Catalan Pyrenees. The year before, his mother left home in a drinker’s rage. A storm came up and she was buried in snow, her body not discovered until the spring thaw. Miquel’s younger brother abandoned the family when he returned from military service and learned that his mother was dead.

Now there is a new bridge opening. No longer will these Pyrenees villages be so isolated; no longer will small time smugglers cart their contraband over the rope bridge on donkeys; the dogs will be able to couple on both sides of the river.

Mistakes, betrayals, willfulness, taboo appetites and longings, and bad luck lead Miquel and his father to a two year prison sentence. And there, Miquel's relationships transform his understanding of his own history.

A gorgeous story of loss, grief, and longing—spare and gutting—The Bridge is a masterpiece. Tóibín’s powers of emotional control are on full display in this devastating portrait of a young man.