This is a haunting novel about growing up in a world unhinged by war; a novel about longing, loss, and the search for home. It is suitable for anyone with an interest in twentieth century history who would like to find out what it might have been like to be on the other side during one of its major conflicts. Lynette is a dreamer. She likes to imagine herself floating on a magic carpet above the city where she lives, Prague. But suddenly her dream becomes a nightmare. The wooden puppet with the moustache drives his black limo through the gates of the castle. She tries to escape into the fairytale world of the wild Waterman but the brutal events of history haul her into the real world. Suddenly, Czechs, Germans, and Jews, who have lived side by side for years, become sworn enemies. Brutally expelled with her family from her homeland, joining the great exodus of Germans from Bohemia ...but to what promised land?

Reviews

Gramich’s meticulous prose captures images and experiences in a detail that gives the early part of the novel an almost dream-like quality. The reader watches on, as each finely-wrought character seeks to make sense of a seemingly unreal reality. Time is marked by the steady passage of the seasons. Constancy and permanence are sought in the few things that remain the same and in faith in a better future. Carefully avoiding melodrama and sentimentality, Gramich evokes personal and collective tragedies in a slow-paced, understated narrative that has a powerful subliminal effect. At a time when many of us in the West like to perceive ourselves as masters of our own destiny (a belief that begins to smack of naivety or arrogance in the current global climate), it is humbling to view the world through the eyes of Gramich’s main character, Lynette, whose experiences lead her to the conclusion that she ‘was pushed about by something people called fate. All humans were ruled by it but did not admit it and pretended that they were able to choose which path to follow.’ The Bridge Over the River is a beautiful, poignant book filled with quiet wisdom and perceptiveness. I was sorry to reach the last page.

Suzy Ceulan Hughes

Reviews also appeared in the Literary Times Supplement, The Western Mail, Cambria-Magazine and Planet