Markus Zusak - Bridge of Clay

Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak

Senior YA Fiction, Adults.

Markus Zuzak’s latest tome of a book is no easy read. It’s a book you need to take your time over, each line requiring the critical analysis of reading poetry, such is the mystery and imagery of each line.

However, once you have navigated your way through the imagery and innuendo of the text and the outline of a setting begins to emerge, you are in for a treat. Zusak’s Bridge of Clay is the story of the five rough and tumble Dunbar boys, fending for themselves after losing their mother to cancer.

The story begins with the return of the Dunbar’s wayward father, The Murderer. The Murderer delivers an invitation for the sons to join him at his new homestead where he needs help to build a bridge that won’t get washed out during the flood season.

Fourth brother Clay is the only Dunbar prepared to take another chance on their father. His willingness to follow his father out to the bush block is the trigger that begins to unlock the grief and entrapment the boys had found themselves in for so long. 

The oldest Dunbar son, Matthew, narrates the story in rough fragments that criss-cross characters, time and place. Perhaps this style is also part of the symbolism: Matthew pounding the story out on an old typewriter, dug up from the ground.

Yes, it could have done with a bit more editing, and probably would have been a lot more readable with a smoother flow. But I found myself totally caught up in the sad and mournful story of these beautiful, unruly boys with shattered hearts.

And the animals. Loved those misfit animals.

Zinga rating: 4.5 stars                                                                     

Markus Zusak is the author of five books, including the international best seller, The Book Thief, which spent more than a decade on the New York Times bestseller list, and is translated into more than forty languages - establishing Zusak as one of the most successful authors to come out of Australia.

Markus grew up in Sydney, Australia, and still lives there with his wife and two children. In a statement about Bridge of Clay, Zusak said:

 “Clay Dunbar builds a bridge for a multitude of reasons: for his brothers and to honour his parents…but it’s also an attempt at greatness. He builds a bridge to save himself, and to make a single, beautiful moment: a miracle and nothing less.        

                                                                                                                                 www.zusakbooks.com