The Bridge Ladies

A Memoir

By: Betsy Lerner

Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy

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.

You can tell she's a poet

This book is excellently written-- funny and profound. I grew up in an environment similar to the author's, which enhanced the content for me. My only criticism is that the narrator mangled all the Yiddish words.

Not a slam but enjoyable

I thought the narrator was solid. Parts of the writing were very poignant and great characterization. As a new bridge player I enjoyed the bridge elements. But the overall complaining tone and “put upon” attitude of the main character turned me off. It became tiresome.

Just okay

I couldn’t connect to the characters. The butchered Yiddish words felt like nails on a chalkboard. There’s no excuse for the producer to allow this. The narrator should have checked the pronunciation where there were foreign words. Disappointing!

Books need editors, readers do as well.

The story was quite charming.

The reader, however, used an accent in order to be somewhat denigrating to the primary characters. She also mispronounced many words in the reading, some Yiddish, some English. Such things are too easy to research to shrug off.

Delightful!

What a wonderful book for anyone who has ever played Bridge or whose mother was a Bridge player! A lovely memoir and a wonderful perspective on how Bridge is more than playing cards. The story was great, the narrator was excellent.