The Other Side of the Bridge

Wright (The Orphan Keeper) explores how far obsession can take someone in his fourth novel, which too neatly ties together two story lines, each focusing on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. Katie Connelly, a San Francisco State University research assistant, is tasked with preparing a primer on the bridge for the state’s school system. Looking through her deceased father’s desk, she comes upon a journal written by one of the bridge’s construction engineers in the 1930s. (Her father, coincidentally, was an ironworker who helped maintain the bridge.) Her fascination with the journal supersedes her assignment as she seeks to find out more about one of the original bridge workers and his heirs. Dave Riley, a stressed-out East Coast marketing executive, is torn between his high-pressure job and his responsibilities as husband to the love of his life and father of three. Then family tragedy strikes and he’s left with only one thing: his dream of riding across the Golden Gate Bridge—which his grandfather worked on—on a motorcycle on July 4th. That the protagonists will cross paths is inevitable, and though the plot is contrived to serve a “happily ever after” narrative, there is an affirming underlying message that the goodness in people can help others overcome hardship, making this a satisfying novel that will appeal to a wide audience. (Mar.)