A fifty-year-old Bridge game provides an unexpected way to cross the generational divide between a daughter and her mother. Betsy Lerner takes us on a powerfully personal literary journey, where we learn a little about Bridge and a lot about life.
After a lifetime defining herself in contrast to her mother’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” generation, Lerner finds herself back in her childhood home, not five miles from the mother she spent decades avoiding. When Roz needs help after surgery, it falls to Betsy to take care of her. She expected a week of tense civility; what she got instead were the Bridge Ladies. Impressed by their loyalty, she saw something her generation lacked. Facebook was great, but it wouldn’t deliver a pot roast.
Tentatively at first, Betsy becomes a regular at her mother’s Monday Bridge club. Through her friendships with the ladies, she is finally able to face years of misunderstandings and family tragedy, the Bridge table becoming the common ground she and Roz never had.
By turns darkly funny and deeply moving, The Bridge Ladies is the unforgettable story of a hard-won—but never-too-late—bond between mother and daughter.
After a lifetime of defining herself against her mother, Betsy unexpectedly returns to her childhood home of New Haven. No sooner does she cross state lines than old patterns reemerge, old conflicts flare. Everything her mother says feels like a referendum on her life: her hair, her frayed jeans, throwing away money on Starbucks, and why does she always have to wear black! All the entrenched mother-daughter behaviors return full force. The generation gap seems wider than ever.
Enter the Bridge Ladies, a small band of five women who have been playing cards with her mother, Roz, on Mondays for more than fifty-five years—still clad in matching outfits, heels, their hair done, and still serving luncheon on linen, china, and silver. After Roz had some surgery, each one visited with a meal. Betsy admired their loyalty. She knew if she ever got sick her friends would probably send her texts: Feel better! Miss you! Facebook was great, but it wouldn’t deliver a pot roast.
Tentatively at first, Betsy joins the Monday bridge group, and eventually learns to play the game that “well acquaints you with your deficits.” Over time, she gets to know the ladies and, most surprisingly, her mother. Bridge becomes a metaphor for crossing the emotional divide. Darkly funny and deeply moving, The Bridge Ladies is an unforgettable story of the hard-won but never-too-late bond that can be rekindled between mothers and daughters.
"The Bridge Ladies reminded me of Tuesdays with Morrie, except it takes place on Mondays and has five Morries. Exquisitely written, in this book are portraits of five women whose like we won't see again. I devoured it in one greedy sitting, and started re-reading as soon as I finished."
