The Bridge of Clay - Markus Zusak

"Our mother was dead. Our father had fled.

Five Dunbar brothers are living – fighting, loving, grieving – in the perfect chaos of a house without grown-ups.

This is a family rocked by tragedy and long buried secrets. To understand his family’s story, Matthew Dunbar must travel to find three things. A lost typewriter -- A dead dog -- The bones of the snake that killed it.

He will learn of a mother who crosses continents for a new home; of a father searching for love in the keys of an old piano; and, finally, of a brother named Clay, who will make the most challenging journey of them all, and change their lives for ever."

A stunning book from a prose point of view, however disappointing when it came to plot. 

It contains poignant and brilliant writing, this story is messy and complicated and raw. I can feel every ounce of tears, hope, frustration, dedication, doubt, and love.

It tackles topics like how to make a home with those who surround you, what it truly takes to extend forgiveness, that family means those you love and who love you in return, the overwhelming grief of losing someone who is simply extraordinary, the shy but steady feelings that can only belong to a first love, and most importantly, the unwavering and unbreakable bond between brothers.

I'm still sitting with my thoughts trying to figure out how I feel. I liked how focused it was on the characters and there was a moment where I felt brought close to tears by something that occurred or a descriptive passage. Or found myself grinning at the joyful bond between brothers. Unfortunately though, I wanted more from the plot and I felt like things just kept getting unnecessarily dragged out. The plot is very sparse yet highly confusing. It felt like a story that kept getting tangled up in nonsense and wasn't ever untangled. Thematically it was confused and never really settled on what it wanted to say or committed to saying anything. While it was written unbelievably beautifully, it didn't say anything to me. I wanted to love it, but ended up feeling mixed about it as a whole. 

Age Rating 17+ Suicide, slow death from cancer, sex.