Teri Coyne - The Last Bridge
Teri Coyne - The Last Bridge
Publisher: Ballantine Books | ISBN: 0345507320 | 2010 | EPUB/MOBI | 256 pages | 2 MB/417 KB
Coyne's compelling debut shines an unnerving light on the fallout from a childhood rooted in abuse. Alexandra Cat Rucker, an alcoholic strip club cocktail waitress, returns to her childhood home after her mother kills herself. She's been gone 10 years and is now uncomfortable around her brother, Jared, and sister, Wendy; while confronting her past, she also tries to discern the meaning of her mother's suicide note: He isn't who you think he is. Alternating between the complicated present and the horrific past, Coyne portrays the myriad ways family members cope with abuse. Cat's mother lived in a world of her own; Cat, the oldest, bore the brunt of her father's attacks; Jared buried himself in school sports, occasionally coming to his sister's defense when it was safe to do so; and Wendy focused on being the perfect daughter. Then there's Addison Watkins, the son of a family friend who at once offered a haven and a challenge to teenage Cat. Though the occasional one-liners distract rather than enhance, Coyne's prose effortlessly carries the reader through a thorny history and into possible redemption.