The Bridge of Years, May Sarton. Norton, 1985.
Vintage paperback. No markings. Near fine condition.
May Sarton was a Belgian-American poet and novelist. Her best work is strongly personalized with erotic female imagery. She has written about sexual orientation, love of nature, gratitude, isolation, and the struggles of a creative life. The Bridge of Years
"This novel, first published in 1946, is one of Miss Sarton's earliest and, some critics think, one of her best. It takes place during the years between the world wars and explores the life of a Belgian family, the Duchesnes, and their mutual devotion which intensifies under the shadow of impending disaster. Mélanie Duchesne, mother of three, is an active businesswoman, whose courage, energy, and optimism bind the family and its farm together. Paul, her husband, is a philosopher, detached, moody, continually embroiled in the spiritual conflicts of a crumbling Europe. Almost single-handedly, Mélanie rears her daughters, runs her decorating business, works the farm, and comes to the aid of those in need-_particularly Jacques, a village boy, whom Mélanie rehabilitates after his service in the first war, and Gerhart Schmidt, their anti-Nazi German friend who escapes death in Germany. The last years before the second war are tense ones, a time for stock-taking, for a quickening of the pace of life. But it is Mélanie who encourages her family to proceed with their plans, to continue with their way of life. And it is Mélanie who decides their future as the Germans launch the invasion of Belgium." (from back cover(