The Bridges of Madison County
by Robert James Waller

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• ISBN13: 9780446516525
• Condition: New
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Book Reviews of The Bridges of Madison County

Book Review: The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
Summary: 5 Stars

To a casual reader, the book appears to be just another juicy love story between a divorced man, Robert Kincaid, a writer-photographer from Bellingham, Washington and Francesca Johnson, a farmer's wife in Madison County, Iowa. In August 1965, he was 52 and she was 45. To a serious sensible reader, the book is much more than that. It is a powerful book.

Kincaid was on an assignment to photograph covered bridges in Madison County for 'National Geographic' when he dropped in on a farmhouse on a country road. A woman was sitting on the front porch. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm looking for a covered bridge out this way, and I can't find it. I think I'm temporarily lost," he said. "You're pretty close. The bridge is about two miles from here," she said. "I'll be glad to show it to you, if you want."

They spent next four days together in the farmhouse. Francesca's husband Richard and her son Michael, 17, and her daughter Carolyn, 16, were at Illinois State Fair. They fell hard for each other in these four incredible days. They danced in the kitchen to candlelight, and they made love in the kitchen, in the bedroom, and in the pasture.

Then he was inside her again, whispering soft words into her ear as he loved her, kissing her between phrases, between words, his arm around her waist, pulling her into him and him into her. And she murmured, softly, breathlessly, "Oh, Robert . . . Robert . . . I am losing myself." He was an animal. A graceful, hard, male animal who did nothing overtly to dominate her yet dominated her completely, in the exact way she wanted that to happen at this moment.

"What are we going to do? he asked at the end of four days. "There is this damn sense of responsibility I have. To Richard, to the children. Just my leaving, taking away my physical presence, would be hard enough for Richard. That alone might destroy him," she said. "On top of that, and this is even worse, he would have to live the rest of his life with the whispers of the people here. And children would hear snickering of Winterset for as long as they live here. As much as I want you and want to be with you and part of you, I can't tear myself away from the realness of my responsibilities."

"Oh, Michael, Michael, think of them all those years, wanting each other so desperately. She gave him up for us and for Dad. And Robert Kincaid stayed away out of respect for her feelings about us. We treat our marriages so casually, and we were part of the reason that an incredible love affair ended the way it did," said Carolyn after reading the letter her mother left. "They had four days together, just four. Out of a lifetime."

Yes, Francesca and Robert spent only four days together out of a lifetime. They wanted each other so desperately. And yet, they endured the rest of their lives away from each other. Why? For what? To do the right thing. The right thing for Francesca was to think of Richard and their children. The right thing for Robert was to respect the feelings of Francesca. Herein lie the strength and power and moral of the story "The Bridges of Madison County."

Summary of The Bridges of Madison County

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