Bridge of Clay

By: Markus Zusak

Narrated by: Markus Zusak

The unforgettable, New York Times bestselling family saga from Markus Zusak, the storyteller who gave us the extraordinary bestseller THE BOOK THIEF, lauded by the New York Times as "the kind of book that can be life-changing."

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY • THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

"One of those monumental books that can draw you across space and time into another family’s experience in the most profound way." —The Washington Post

"Mystical and loaded with heart, it's another gorgeous tearjerker from a rising master of them." —Entertainment Weekly

“Devastating, demanding and deeply moving.” —Wall Street Journal

The breathtaking story of five brothers who bring each other up in a world run by their own rules. As the Dunbar boys love and fight and learn to reckon with the adult world, they discover the moving secret behind their father’s disappearance.

At the center of the Dunbar family is Clay, a boy who will build a bridge—for his family, for his past, for greatness, for his sins, for a miracle.

The question is, how far is Clay willing to go? And how much can he overcome?

Written in powerfully inventive language and bursting with heart, BRIDGE OF CLAY is signature Zusak.

Critic reviews

“This book is a stunner. Devastating, demanding and deeply moving, Bridge of Clay unspools like a kind of magic act in reverse, with feats of narrative legerdemain concealed by misdirection that all make sense only when the elements of the trick are finally laid out.” —Wall Street Journal

"Markus Zusak crafts an unforgettable saga." —US Weekly

"In a complex narrative that leaps through time and place and across oceans, Zusak paints a vivid portrait of the brothers trying to regain their balance by keeping their family’s story alive." —Time

“It blew me away.” —Jodi Picoult, bestselling author of A Spark of Light and Small Great Things

“A captivating book with a mighty, fearless heart, BRIDGE OF CLAY is filled with characters to believe in and care about ... achingly moving, delightfully funny, and thoroughly uplifting.” —M. L. Stedman, bestselling author of The Light Between Oceans

“If The Book Thief was a novel that allowed Death to steal the show . . . [its] brilliantly illuminated follow-up is affirmatively full of life.” —The Guardian

“Warm and heartfelt. . . . This is a tale of love, art and redemption; rowdy and joyous, with flashes of wit and insight, and ultimately moving.” Times of London

"With heft and historical scope, Zusak creates a sensitively rendered tale of loss, grief, and guilt’s manifestations." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"[A] gorgeously written novel." —Booklist, starred review


Praise for The Book Thief by Markus Zusak:

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD
MORE THAN 16 MILLION COPIES SOLD

"Brilliant and hugely ambitious." --The New York Times Book Review

"Deserves a place on the shelf with the Diary of Anne Frank . . . Poised to become a classic." --USA Today

"Absorbing and searing." --Washington Post

"Zusak's novel is a major achievement." –People

"Zusak doesn't sugarcoat anything, but he makes his ostensibly gloomy subject bearable the same way Kurt Vonnegut did in Slaughterhouse-Five: with grim, darkly consoling humor." –Time

May be helpful to have book in hand

Overall I loved this book. Due to his heavy accent, at times I could not understand some of the words, and knowing that sometimes we have different words for the same object, it made it a little confusing at times.
He does jump around a lot - past and present but once you get into the book, it’s not too difficult to follow.

Loved this story!!!

This story, for me, was perfect! The narration was flawless. The life story of this family and how they came together, told going from far past to mid past to final present was laid out expertly.

The five bothers and who they were in childhood and as they grew was like a blossom opening, seeing how individual each one of them were. It is so good to see so many perspectives of a childhood, adolescence then adulthood, each coming from the same household and with shared tramas but each brother, so different in their choices in life and showing who they were thru it all. Of course, Clay, being sort of the main character, became someone that I really wanted to understand the most.

I cannot exactly say everything I loved about this story but I cried and cried during the last 1/4 of the book. I was fully invested with these fellas. I felt the ending was perfect!

I would recommend this story to folks who love a great family story of trials and tribulations and growing up. This is very rich and complex and satisfying when done!

Frustration and Resolution

So long and hard to follow at times. I almost gave up several times. The last two chapters were the payoff. Glad I stuck with it. Amazing story... hit home as I watched my own mother die this past year. The author's reading was wonderful. His emotion at the story's peaks were genuine and touching.

glorious

brilliant, lovely, tough, heart-rending. so worth spending time with the dunbar boys. don't miss it.

Loved Itn

I listened on Audible. It is read masterfully by the author and I found it to be a compelling and great literary work of fiction that reads like an autobiography.