'THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY' -
by ROBERT JAMES WALLER
First published in 1992, the hit movie 'The Bridges of Madison County' soon followed and got hearts a flutter right around the world as its major-league stars Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep fell in love so effortlessly, as though they'd known each other all their lives. Incidentally, the story was initially known as 'Love And Black And White,' though the content was the same�
And such content is so easily readable it is astounding, with this surely being one of the most subtle and straightforward love stories ever put to paper so lavishly. Well, it could be simpler if only middle-aged beauty Francesca Johnson wasn't married and had kids already when 'National Geographic' photographer Robert Kincaid pulls into her drive one day, asking innocently enough for directions to an elusive covered bridge nearby that he needs to take pix for as part of his latest assignment working for the magazine. Both Robert and Francesca like what they see in the other, and she offers to accompany him to the bridge and help him out while her husband and kids are away at a show for a few days. Conveniently.
And, this routine love story is as most love stories are� they both fall in love (�'racing the years, chasing the light'�), and realise their unfaltering affection for each other almost immediately, set against the vivid, airy and wide open landscapes of America's beautiful state of Iowa.
Coincidentally, Madison Country is just 40 miles away from Iowa's state capital in the bizarrely named Des Moines - from which death-metal band Slipknot roared out of just a few years back. This story, however, is set in the mid-60's, so don't worry - the 2 lovers don't have any mucky 'Wait and Bleed' scenarios to contend with.
Whilst Catherine Cookson may the queen of love-saga writing, at just 171 brief pages long, this is surely one of the most concise and yet moving love stories ever written with such original flair. I won't deny that there are moments of cringeworthy, 'Titanic'-esque sentimentality, but for the most part this genuinely is a compelling read - and far from being boring, both lead characters are quietly interesting in their ways.
It's a refreshing read if only for its refusal to incorporate outright scandal or any violence whatsoever, based on a true story later recounted to the author by Francesca's son and daughter Michael and Carolyn ('In a world where personal commitment in all of its forms seems to be shattering and love has become a matter of convenience, they both felt this remarkable tale was worth telling'), who only posthumously learned of the affair that their mother had that one summer in 1965 that no one else ever found out about until she passed on, which - as a sweet notion - is tenderly saddening. A far cry from today's flippant attitudes towards family affairs, Francesca truly loved Robert, but because she was married and had kids, they both forced themselves to get on without the other so as not to hurt anyone else, which is fantastically admirable.
A few lines that caught my eye, and potentially the understanding tears escaping it, include the fact that 'There were pretty woman everywhere he travelled. Physical matters were nice, yet, to him, intelligence and passion born of living, the ability to move and be moved by subtleties of the mind and spirit were what really counted.' A strong, independent man, Robert lamented that 'men are outliving their usefulness,' self-revealing that his 'contention is that male hormones are the ultimate cause of trouble on this planet. It was one thing to dominate another tribe or another woman. It's quite another to have missiles. It's also quite another to have the power to destroy nature the way we're doing. Even if we're not talking about wars between nations or assaults on nature, there's still that aggressiveness that keeps us apart from each other.'
If only a man with Robert's values would be voted in as President. If only more men like him realised that woman are in no way inferior to men and are never, ever to be treated as 'objects' of any sort, or taken for granted.
Many thanks go then to Robert James Fuller for listening to Michael and Carolyn's story about their mother and the man she came to truly love like no other in just a few short days. This novel, if nothing else, is a testament to how two people 'in love' should really act around and towards each other. And, whilst far from being 'Dr Zhivago' in epic scale, this sweetest and most endearing of stories has just as much impact as the best of the rest of them�
(PS, If you were wondering how her children knew so much about Robert, and what he stood for & indeed said, Francesca wrote notebooks full of info about him that she left Michael and Carolyn� just in case you thought they'd somehow contacted the dead and asked him a questions themselves.)
(Steve Rudd)
ISBN 0-7493-1678-0 (ARROW)