The Bridges of Madison County – Robert James Waller
100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: A chance meeting between a National Geographic photographer and an Iowa farm wife leads to several days of life-changing romance and self-reflection.
Expectation: A heartbreaking and memorable story of forbidden love.
Reality: A well-written but incredibly male-centric romance with laugh out loud dialogue that detract from the novel’s stronger elements.
Recommended For: Fans of higher-brow romance novels.
Why I Read It: I’m determined to read a novel set in every Midwestern state.
My Take:
Elder Millennials (like me) probably still remember the buzz around “The Bridges of Madison County” in the early-90s, culminating with the Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood film adaptation.
In fact, my mother took me to the theater with her to see the film — although I was sent off to see “Casper” — and when we met near the small arcade after each of our respective films ended, I distinctly remember the redness in her eyes and somber mood during the car ride home.
I can see how Robert James Waller’s tale of a clandestine affair in small town Iowa struck a chord with people. In Francesca we have a character that gave up on her own dreams and ambitions for the sake of her family. In Robert we see the dangers in putting career over relationships.
Each person didn’t realize how lost they really were until they found each other. And in a few days, they lived enough life and experienced enough happiness to continue with their status quos.
It’s poetic, heartbreaking and, yes, schmaltzy, but it’s also an effective “what would you do?” morality tale about sacrifice, love and regret.
If you’ve read this modern “classic” of romantic literature, you might find that praise a bit too generous, because the last third of the novel is cringeworthy and unintentionally laugh out loud funny because of the patriarchal shift to the relationship once it becomes intimate.
I don’t care if it was set in the 1960s, would a character refer to himself as “the last cowboy” to make a woman swoon? Would a woman ever refer to a man’s lovemaking as “panther-like?” What does that even mean?! These post-coital discussions felt like male projections of female desire, where a penis, stamina and multiple orgasms are the driving force of desire.
It’s a shame the novel devolved in that way, because the first two thirds — in essence a long run of non-sexual foreplay — was incredibly well-written and engrossing. Waller has our characters delicately dance around morality and desire in a way that felt authentic. And, the final time Francesca sees Robert is devastating and memorable. Moments like these help me see why this was so popular.
This isn’t a novel I’d typically read — although romance seems to be my breakthrough genre of 2021 — but I’m determined to read a novel set in each Midwestern state. There are likely better Iowa-set novels, but Waller did the state justice here. In fact, I may need to road trip to Madison County to see the bridges for myself.
My husband and I listened to this while road tripping from Iowa to Minnesota, and it only took about two-and-a-half hours at 1.5x speed. We heard the original recording with only a male narrator — Mitch Greenberg — but there’s an Audible version with alternating male and female narrators. That probably would’ve made the story feel less male savior-focused but likely still as ridiculous in the last third.
All told, if you like this genre and haven’t read this one yet — it’s probably worth a shot.
Rating (story): 3/5 stars
Rating (narration): 3/5
Formats: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: August 22, 2021
Multi-tasking: Good to go. I drove while listening.
