cover image A BRIDGE TO EDEN

A BRIDGE TO EDEN

David Turrill, . . Bonneville, $13.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-1-55517-548-1

Love extends beyond the grave and faith conquers death in this romantic, otherworldly tearjerker of a debut. Ben Riveridge is devoted to his wife, Morgan, and when she suddenly dies at the age of 50 of a heart attack, he is devastated. As the novel begins, a few years after Morgan's death, Ben is under psychiatric observation at a hospital following an altercation with the abusive husband of a woman who looks remarkably like his deceased wife. The woman, Sophie Hall, is Ben's next door neighbor, and both she and Ben have come to believe that she may be Morgan returned to life. Dr. Kim, Ben's Vietnamese psychiatrist, is skeptical at first, but the revelation of a series of coincidences ultimately makes him take seriously Ben's belief in "Edenic time." The narrative's engaging flatness and smooth conversational tone counteract its dramatic premise and point up Ben and Morgan's understated, enduring love. Buoyed in spots by a few literary special effects and supernatural elements, the story peaks prematurely when Sophie must decide whether she "should give up being one man's punching bag to become a surrogate wife to another." The resolution of that question sends the novel awry, as it slides toward a murky conclusion threatening to overshadow all of the expertly handled tenderness and sensitivity that otherwise make it an intriguing, inspirational read. (Nov.)