The Invisible Bridge

The Invisible Bridge (2010) by Julie Orringer. A great first novel by Orringer, who writes with authority about the experiences of a Jewish family in Hungary before and during the Second World War. Orringer seems to have mastered not only English, but French and Hungarian, in the writing of this book. As so many authors have before her, she draws upon the seemingly bottomless well of horror that is associated with the Jewish experience during the ascendancy of Hitler in Germany and later in the rest of Europe. In this particular case, Orringer's protagonist is Andras Levi, a young Hungarian Jew who, in 1937, journeys to Paris to study architecture. With no real knowledge of the coming storm, he goes to classes, does his best to survive in a foreign land, and falls in love. The love story forms the central theme of the book from that point forward, and it is always to his Klara that Andras hearkens when things get to their worst. There is a staggering amount of detail in the book, some to do with French culture, some with Hungarian, and one is left to wonder where Orringer gained her knowledge. At any rate, it is a marvelously well written book, at almost 600 pages not a difficult read at all. Grade: A