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Actual rating 3 - 4 stars but rounded up because there were aspects I really liked.

Against the odds I actually finished this but there were times I nearly gave up and I totally get why people did. It took tenacity and a lot of eye rolling 🤪before I got the to grips with this book. The down side was the style which to begin with made my head spin. It was all over the place which made the storyline very hard to follow and I found myself muttering ‘What the hell is he on about?� or ‘this is one bridge too far for me� or ‘my head feels like it’s full of clay�. It was disjointed, rambling, aimless and at times incoherent. However, eventually (and I was a long way in) it all began to make sense and I became invested in the story of the Dunbar family - father Michael, mother Penelope and the boys Matthew ( the narrator), Rory, Henry, Clay(ton) and Tommy.

There were several recurring themes in the book which I liked which came to symbolise other things. For example, Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey which Penelope read to the boys and her pupils. The piano was an important theme from Penelope being taught it very harshly by her father to her buying one when she had saved enough money to do so after she came to Australia as a refugee from Poland. At least I assume it was Poland as Solidarity was mentioned. I loved the way the delivery of her piano brought Michael and Penelope together. She tried desperately to get her boys to play the piano but with limited success.Michelangelo was also a recurring theme as were movies. There was also horse racing, athletics and of course bridge building. This was an actual building exercise between Michael and Clay but it was also metaphorical as bridges were rebuilt between Michael and his sons.

There were some creative and lovely imagery and descriptions in the writing. There was ‘garrulous hair� and Rory was ‘Puck with a pair of fists�. Clay ran like Achilles, barefoot like a ‘goddamn warrior�. I loved the animals in the story. There was Hector the cat and there were �14 different versions of him� apparently as he was everywhere and I loved Achilles the mule! The characters once they became clear were really well described. Parts of the story were very moving especially that Penelope would not live to see what her boys became and I found the ending emotional too.

This book will not appeal to everyone because it’s not an easy read but ultimately it’s worth the effort.