A review by jenmat1197
A Bridge Across the Ocean by Susan Meissner

emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 

This is the story of Annalise and Brette.  Separated by over 50 years, their stories merge in a very unusual way.  Annalise is a woman running from an abusive marriage right after the war in Europe.  She takes another passenger's spot on the Queen Mary to escape to America where she hopes she can start over.  50 years later, Brette - who can see ghosts even when she doesn't want anything to do with them - is called on by a friend to visit the Queen Mary.  Now a museum, a little girl of a high school friend thinks she saw her dead mother on the ship.  Unsettled the dad asks for Brette's help.  What happens when she gets to the Queen Mary is that she discover's Annalise's story and need to get to the bottom of what really happened as they crossed the Atlantic all those years ago.

This was a pretty good book.  I am a Meissner fan.  One of my favorite books ever is the Fall of Marigolds, but this one wasn't quite up to that standard.  It is well written for the most part - but I did not like the ending at all.  I liked Brette and Annalise.  There was a 3rd story that was part of this book (and does come together half way through the book) but it didn't make much sense at first.  Meissner usually does a really good job of tying her past and present together and the story is usually a terrific one.  But the ending of this one wasn't for me.  It was too fantastical and I didn't why she went this direction.