Man runs into his past, future and God in the beautiful scenery of Swan Lake, Montana.

Title: The Bridge Author: Lisa Tawn Bergren

The Fiction Story: If you strip the gospel element out of The Bridge, what you have left is a down to earth romance story where the main character, Jared Conway runs into his past and his future at the same time in the beautiful scenery of Swan Lake, Montana. In the same small town where he lost his mother, while developing a better relationship with his son and closely examining his origins, Jared meets love interest, Eden Powell. Eden Powell's spiritual perspective helps Jared contemplate the tragic event that took place on the bridge over Swan River, and helps him cross into his future. In the end Jared is pretty much transformed. He gives up his big career in New York City in exchange for the beautiful landscape of Montana, as well as for Eden and more time with his son. He also ends up closer to his creator. The Gospel Story: Yes Jared met and fell in love with Eden. Yes, Jared developed a better relationship with his son, but most importantly, Jared met Christ on a little bridge over the Swan River in Montana. It was fitting that it was the same bridge (actually, rebuilt bridge) where he lost his mother, and nearly his own life as an infant. It was not easy for Jared to come to terms with the death of his mother, and of the elderly man (Eden’s great-grandfather) who saved his life. It was facing his sad beginnings that made Jared hungry for the same spiritual relationship Eden had with her creator. A particularly nice scene in the book was when Eden comforted Jared by telling him that it would help to think of their deaths as a meaningful sacrifice rather than a tragedy. After all, his mother was taking him away to a better life. She took the opportunity to make the obvious comparison to Jesus’ death and the meaning of that sacrifice. That led to what I always call the "meet Jesus scene." On the bridge, Jared finally makes the proper connections and realizations that help him cross the hurtle of his tragic beginning in life. Jared explains to Eden his experience, that he had been trying in vain to live worthy of his mother's, and Eden's great-grandfather's deaths but realizes now that he cannot. He can only "live my life as fully as I can and accept the gift I was given." It is hard to tell if the book is trying to illustrate a salvation scene or not, but I believe it falls short of that and instead illustrates how God and faith brings us through the struggles of life and its obstacles. Is divorce an issue? One possible issue in the story is the main character's divorce. Jared Conway is a divorced middle aged father developing a new relationship. The author dose add justification to the scenario by indicating infidelity on the wife's part, however, it could possibly remain a questionable issue for some readers. The Run Down: Fiction: The story and the writing was good but not excellent. Parts of it came across a bit cheesy. It was at its strongest displaying the Montana landscape and at its weakest in dialogue and speech tags. Gospel: Not a salvation gospel story but biblically-accurate, successfully illustrated God and faith transforming and healing a life. My Rating: ok, this is a new segment in fiction story/gospel story, as I am still evolving a pattern and method for reviewing and recommending good books in the Christian Fiction genre. Amazon uses a 5 star system so I suppose I will follow suit. 🌟🌟🌟 Extra Extra: Lisa Tawn Bergren has also written children's books. While looking into her work I stumbled upon a familiar cover from my daughter's room, God Gave us Christmas. I recommend her children's books for your children.