{"product_id":"the-bridge-ladies-a-memoir-isbn-9780062354471","title":"The Bridge Ladies: A Memoir","description":"\u003cp\u003eA fifty-year-old Bridge game provides an unexpected way to cross the generational divide between a daughter and her mother. Betsy Lerner takes us on a powerfully personal literary journey, where we learn a little about Bridge and a lot about life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter a lifetime defining herself in contrast to her mother’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” generation, Lerner finds herself back in her childhood home, not five miles from the mother she spent decades avoiding. When Roz needs help after surgery, it falls to Betsy to take care of her. She expected a week of tense civility; what she got instead were the Bridge Ladies. Impressed by their loyalty, she saw something her generation lacked. Facebook was great, but it wouldn’t deliver a pot roast.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTentatively at first, Betsy becomes a regular at her mother’s Monday Bridge club. Through her friendships with the ladies, she is finally able to face years of misunderstandings and family tragedy, the Bridge table becoming the common ground she and Roz never had.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy turns darkly funny and deeply moving, \u003cem\u003eThe Bridge Ladies\u003c\/em\u003e is the unforgettable story of a hard-won—but never-too-late—bond between mother and daughter.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003eAfter a lifetime of defining herself against her mother, Betsy unexpectedly returns to her childhood home of New Haven. No sooner does she cross state lines than old patterns reemerge, old conflicts flare. Everything her mother says feels like a referendum on her life: her hair, her frayed jeans, throwing away money on Starbucks, and why does she always have to wear black! All the entrenched mother-daughter behaviors return full force. The generation gap seems wider than ever. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEnter the Bridge Ladies, a small band of five women who have been playing cards with her mother, Roz, on Mondays for more than fifty-five years—still clad in matching outfits, heels, their hair done, and still serving luncheon on linen, china, and silver.  After Roz had some surgery, each one visited with a meal. Betsy admired their loyalty. She knew if she ever got sick her friends would probably send her texts: \u003cem\u003eFeel better! Miss you!\u003c\/em\u003e Facebook was great, but it wouldn’t deliver a pot roast. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTentatively at first, Betsy joins the Monday bridge group, and eventually learns to play the game that “well acquaints you with your deficits.” Over time, she gets to know the ladies and, most surprisingly, her mother. Bridge becomes a metaphor for crossing the emotional divide. Darkly funny and deeply moving, \u003cem\u003eThe Bridge Ladies\u003c\/em\u003e is an unforgettable story of the hard-won but never-too-late bond that can be rekindled between mothers and daughters. \u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eThe Bridge Ladies\u003c\/em\u003e reminded me of \u003cem\u003eTuesdays with Morrie\u003c\/em\u003e, except it takes place on Mondays and it has has five Morries. In this exquisitely written book, there’s humor, candor, no-nonsense wisdom—and portraits of five women whose like we won’t see again. I devoured it in one greedy sitting, and started re-reading as soon as I finished.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWill Schwalbe, author of The End of Your Life Book Club\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The Bridge Ladies reminded me of Tuesdays with Morrie, except it takes place on Mondays and has five Morries. Exquisitely written, in this book are portraits of five women whose like we won’t see again. I devoured it in one greedy sitting, and started re-reading as soon as I finished.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWill Schwalbe, author of the New York Times bestseller The End of Your Life Book Club\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Betsy Lerner’s ladies are our ladies, our mothers, grandmothers, and aunts. Lerner takes us back to their tables, capturing a group of wonderful American women—growing older now and braving new battles—with sweetness, humor and sharp perceptiveness. This is a book with heart and feeling.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGeorge Hodgman, author of Bettyville\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Through the alchemy of a grand game, Betsy Lerner has woven a universal coming-of-age story for both mother and daughter. A poignant, humorous and often painful struggle through the pageantry of playing cards; a woman’s face on every one.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePatti Smith, author of Just Kids and M Train\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This is the best book about mothers and daughters I’ve read in decades, maybe ever.  I just loved it, related to it viscerally, kept calling up my daughters to read passages aloud to them.  It’s about—in addition to Bridge, of course—mother-daughter conflict, the desire to love and be loved, aging and loss, discovery and renewal.  Betsy Lerner is a beautiful, achingly honest writer, and \u003cem\u003eThe Bridge Ladies\u003c\/em\u003e is at once heartbreaking and hilarious, uplifting and profound.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAmy Chua, Yale Law Professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A searching, funny, warm memoir.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eO, the Oprah Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A smart and colorful memoir.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMaureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A deeply affecting memoir...a generous and honest examination, she honors these women’s lives” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eThe Bridge Ladies\u003c\/em\u003e is an uplifting account of a baby boomer’s attempt to understand her mother’s generation. Lerner never lets herself off the hook, either, and the result is candid, fresh and enlightening.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eProvidence Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This is the best book about mothers and daughters I’ve read in decades, maybe ever.  It’s about mother-daughter conflict, the desire to love and be loved, aging and loss, discovery and renewal. Betsy Lerner is a beautiful, achingly honest writer, and \u003cem\u003eThe Bridge Ladies\u003c\/em\u003e is at once heartbreaking and hilarious.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAmy Chua, Yale Law Professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Lerner takes us on a journey of understanding: the card game, the women who play it, their lives and relationships.  In Lerner’s beautifully observed account, Bridge becomes both a literal and figurative pathway to repairing an even more precious bond: her own relationship to her mother.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDeborah Tannen, author of You Just Don’t Understand and You're Wearing THAT?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A heartfelt and affecting memoir.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“In her absorbing memoir, Lerner probes marriage, career, motherhood, depression, aging, death, religion and sex, discovering that, although the Bridge Ladies’ generation differs from hers, they share common values of love and kinship. This beautifully written, bittersweet story of ladies of a certain age and era will have wide appeal.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A book for two generations.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDallas Morning News\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Lerner’s memoir makes a case for spending time together under the rules of neutrality imposed by a game, and approach to living that refrains from over-sharing and outward complaining to concentrate on the task at hand. The bridge ladies are there for one another, even as they keep their feelings to themselves and play on.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44888771854565,"sku":"NP9780062354471","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780062354471.jpg?v=1730229802","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-bridge-ladies-a-memoir-isbn-9780062354471","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}