≫ Download A Bridge Across the Ocean Susan Meissner 9780451476005 Books

A Bridge Across the Ocean Susan Meissner 9780451476005 Books

Download As PDF : A Bridge Across the Ocean Susan Meissner 9780451476005 Books

Wartime intrigue spans the lives of three women—past and present—in this emotional novel from the acclaimed author of As Bright as Heaven.
 
February, 1946. World War Two is over, but the recovery from the most intimate of its horrors has only just begun for Annaliese Lange, a German ballerina desperate to escape her past, and Simone Deveraux, the wronged daughter of a French Résistance spy.
 
Now the two women are joining hundreds of other European war brides aboard the renowned RMS Queen Mary to cross the Atlantic and be reunited with their American husbands. Their new lives in the United States brightly beckon until their tightly-held secrets are laid bare in their shared stateroom. When the voyage ends at New York Harbor, only one of them will disembark...
 
Present day. Facing a crossroads in her own life, Brette Caslake visits the famously haunted Queen Mary at the request of an old friend. What she finds will set her on a course to solve a seventy-year-old tragedy that will draw her into the heartaches and triumphs of the courageous war brides—and will ultimately lead her to reconsider what she has to sacrifice to achieve her own deepest longings.
 
CONVERSATION GUIDE INCLUDED

A Bridge Across the Ocean Susan Meissner 9780451476005 Books

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a huge Susan Meissner fan. She is one of the authors on my very short auto-buy list – meaning, as soon as I hear she has a new book out, I preorder it, haha. Though she has written over a dozen books, I am most familiar with her historical fiction novels and have read them all. They are all wonderful.

"A Bridge Across The Ocean" was no exception. Because I stalk her blog and Facebook, I read up on several interviews and sneak peeks leading up to this novel's release, so I was not at all surprised by the ghostly apparitions it contains. It was different, sure, but it was VERY well done and I think it worked absolutely perfectly in this story. The ghosts (Drifters, as they are called in the book) are not scary or creepy or anything. In fact, Meissner's book "A Sound Among The Trees" raised the hairs on my arms far more often than this book did.

Meissner's prose is magnificent and her research impeccable. While the setup of this book took a little longer, and there were far more leading characters to follow, I never felt lost or got overwhelmed. The slower pace in the beginning allowed me to savor each character as he or she was introduced, but as soon as I hit the first plot point I was done for. I could NOT put it down (typical Meissner style). Unfortunately, I completely irritated my husband because I was so absorbed in the story I couldn't hear either him or the children calling for me, haha. I stayed up until 2am to finish it, and what a satisfying ending it was! Normally I say that Meissner's books don't have “happy endings” but they “end well.” This one was both. And the plot twists had me guessing every time. Another beautiful read that I would recommend to fans of well-researched historical fiction with a literary bent.

**NOTE: The main portion of the story takes place during WWII. We all know what horrific crimes were committed during that time, on all sides. One of the characters in this book is raped, and while I was shocked that Meissner chose to narrate the incident, it was very brief (less than half a page) and very tastefully done. Just wanted to offer a heads up for those that might be concerned about that.


Tags : A Bridge Across the Ocean [Susan Meissner] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <b>Wartime intrigue spans the lives of three women—past and present—in this emotional novel from the acclaimed author of As Bright as Heaven</i>.</b> <b> </b> February,Susan Meissner,A Bridge Across the Ocean,Berkley,045147600X,Contemporary Women,Historical,Literary,Ballerinas,FICTION Contemporary Women,FICTION Contemporary Women.,FICTION Historical,FICTION Historical.,FICTION Literary.,Historical fiction,Ocean travel,Psychological fiction,Queen Mary (Steamship),Secrecy,Self-realization in women,War brides,World War, 1939-1945,AMERICAN HISTORICAL FICTION,FICTION Historical General,FICTION Literary,FICTION Women,Fiction,Fiction-Historical,FictionLiterary,FictionWomen,GENERAL,General Adult,womens fiction books;women's fiction books;women's fiction;books for women;world war 2 books;world war 2;historical romance books;historical romance;historical fiction;historical fiction books;historical;contemporary women;literary fiction;womens fiction;tragedy;death and grief;immigration;love;marriage;France;Germany;romance;paranormal;ghosts;war brides;nazis;World War II;WWII;Queen Mary;RMS Queen Mary;ballerina;Susan Meissner books;historical fiction novels;alternate history;gifts for women,historical; contemporary women; literary fiction; womens fiction; tragedy; death and grief; immigration; love; marriage; France; Germany; romance; paranormal; ghosts; war brides; nazis; World War II; WWII; Queen Mary; RMS Queen Mary; ballerina; Susan Meissner books; women's fiction books; historical fiction books; historical fiction; womens fiction books; women's fiction; books for women; world war 2 books; world war 2; historical romance books; historical romance; gifts for women; fiction; gifts for her; fiction books; women,American Historical Fiction,Fiction

A Bridge Across the Ocean Susan Meissner 9780451476005 Books Reviews

This book was difficult to follow at first...characters, timelines, ghosts, back and forth, all over the place. But I continued to read, and it started to get interesting. By the time I finished, I thought Brette was boring and overplayed the victim role, and Nadine (her mother) took and was given too much grief (all undeserved). Then the end happened and it took a nosedive. Really?? Spoiler it would've been nice to know a little more about Marc, what happened to him, and how he pulled off that great, convoluted feat. A lot of imagination went into this one.
I would definitely like to rate this book 3.5 stars. I enjoyed the story line and the characters for the most part. I have read four or five other novels by this author and this wasn't as well written in my opinion. I like Meissner's writing style of past and present ties in and multiple narrators a great deal. I felt that Simone and Annaliese could have been further developed, but this may be because I liked those two characters a lot and the time period leads to interesting stories. I would recommend this book.
It took me a little while to get into this book. In fact, I set it down for a few weeks and hesitated picking it up again. When I did, I started at the beginning, hoping I would like it more than my first try. The part that was difficult for me, initially, was the supernatural portion of the story. The historical content roped me in... I loved it. As the story progressed, I grew to appreciate what I found to be difficult at the beginning of the book. The author did a great job blending the past with the present. I've read other books by Susan Meissner, which I enjoyed very much. "A Bridge Across the Ocean" did not disappoint. Four stars!
I chose A Bridge Across the Ocean because it was historical fiction, and kept reading because I was intrigued by the story line. I was a little confused in the beginning and almost put the book down. That would have been a major regret. This book is everything l like, history, geography, surprises, and wonderful characters. I refuse to write in-depth reviews because they are always spoilers in one form or another. What I will say is that it’s absolutely refreshing to read a book that required this much research by an author who actually knows how to write and hire good editors. Thank you Susan for the best book I have read in quite a while.
The writing was excellent and the author has an ability to keep the reader engaged. The key elements were well defined and thoughtfully crafted, but the ultimate resolution struck me as rather weak and anti-climatic. It's like classic storytelling that builds and builds, and then crescendos with the deflating words "And then I woke up." It was a good read until the very end, but the final turn was disappointing; I expected more.
I read books about WWII all the time. I love this era and historical fiction. This book was completely different than any others I've read. It was hard to put down. The only thing I can say negative, and it's a very small thing, is I wasn't sure how to pronounce Brette's name. Is it Brett or Brett-ee or Brett-uh? I kept pronouncing it different ways, which was distracting. Otherwise, the writing was enjoyable, and Meissner tied everything together beautifully.
This is the third book of Susan Meissner's that I have read. I loved "A Fall of Marigolds", and "The Girl in the Glass". This one, "A Bridge Across the Ocean".....not so much. While parts were quite intriguing, and the history of RMS Queen Mary during WWII was fascinating, and...there were some unexpected twists and turns to keep me guessing, I am NOT a fan of 'ghost' stories and wouldn't have even started this one had I known that was a big part of the story. But, I persevered, only to be quite disappointed at the conclusion. WHAT??? Not going to give any spoiler details, but....REALLY?? Good grief. I wouldn't recommend this to any of my 'book loving' friends, sadly.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a huge Susan Meissner fan. She is one of the authors on my very short auto-buy list – meaning, as soon as I hear she has a new book out, I preorder it, haha. Though she has written over a dozen books, I am most familiar with her historical fiction novels and have read them all. They are all wonderful.

"A Bridge Across The Ocean" was no exception. Because I stalk her blog and Facebook, I read up on several interviews and sneak peeks leading up to this novel's release, so I was not at all surprised by the ghostly apparitions it contains. It was different, sure, but it was VERY well done and I think it worked absolutely perfectly in this story. The ghosts (Drifters, as they are called in the book) are not scary or creepy or anything. In fact, Meissner's book "A Sound Among The Trees" raised the hairs on my arms far more often than this book did.

Meissner's prose is magnificent and her research impeccable. While the setup of this book took a little longer, and there were far more leading characters to follow, I never felt lost or got overwhelmed. The slower pace in the beginning allowed me to savor each character as he or she was introduced, but as soon as I hit the first plot point I was done for. I could NOT put it down (typical Meissner style). Unfortunately, I completely irritated my husband because I was so absorbed in the story I couldn't hear either him or the children calling for me, haha. I stayed up until 2am to finish it, and what a satisfying ending it was! Normally I say that Meissner's books don't have “happy endings” but they “end well.” This one was both. And the plot twists had me guessing every time. Another beautiful read that I would recommend to fans of well-researched historical fiction with a literary bent.

**NOTE The main portion of the story takes place during WWII. We all know what horrific crimes were committed during that time, on all sides. One of the characters in this book is raped, and while I was shocked that Meissner chose to narrate the incident, it was very brief (less than half a page) and very tastefully done. Just wanted to offer a heads up for those that might be concerned about that.