Customer Reviews

Sky Bridge: A Novel

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What a beautiful, gorgeous, gritty book. Libby is faced with challenges that none of us would know how to handle--and she handles them with painful, awkward grace. She's the kind of character that makes us strive to be better humans.

This is a book about LOVE: what it is - and what it isn't. It's about sex: how it can make you laugh - or cry; can fill you up with joy - or pain. And then the consequences of all of that: babies, children, human beings, citizenship ....
Sky Bridge is also about the consequences of abuse and oppression: just how hard living is for some people, in this case persons on the plains of Eastern Colorado in modern times, be you legal or illegal, American or Mexican.
Sky Bridge is about all those things told through the ruminations and conversations of a twenty-something female, Libby, who believes she is "stupid and ugly." Libby thinks this is so because her mother, Kay, has drilled that into her. Quite obviously, though, she isn't. Libby is remarkably aware, sentient, and intelligent. She is also loved by many: her boyfriend (who she rejects); her boss (who she betrays); her activist neighbor; her co-worker; her mother's boss, and her humanitarian friend. Seemingly, this doesn't make sense, but that is author Laura Pritchett's brilliance - she portrays the human condition as it is: irrational and confused.
As loved and admired as Libby is she feels isolated and alone, because those closest to her: mother, sister, best friend, all abandon her in different ways.
Pritchett writes beautifully, some scenes are simply gripping. And now, with this "illegal immigration" issue being put forth by politicians - this book is especially timely and a must read!

I taught this book in a 20th Century Fiction class, and the students loved it. I've also know book clubs who've enjoyed reading it. It's one of those rare books that does it all --appeals to young and old readers, provokes great discussion (about immigration, love, parenting, and morality), while being a compelling read. The characters are original, the story is intriguing, and the landscape is extremely well depicted --not just by description, but by how it shapes people. The most impressive thing about Ms. Pritchett's writing, though, is her ability to put into words thoughts and feelings that seemed ineffable. In reading this book, you'll discover a deep human connection, and realize we're not as alone or as far apart as we sometimes think.

I first read this beautiful book when it came out a couple years ago, and the vivid characters and landscape have stayed with me. Pritchett has a gift for creating characters you care about deeply-- intimate portraits of people who are somehow tough and tender at once, painted with raw, honest strokes. I love the narrator's, Libby's, voice, which is poetic and real and always striving to get under the surface to express how things really feel. A memorable read by a talented writer.

If you give books to people you love, you will love giving this book. Especially now, when we have reason to wonder if the concept of shared American values still exists. Libby lives in this book as a reminder of what is good, true and enduring. She struggles in a situation that is thoroughly of today, but her character is universal and timeless. All of the action takes place in a tiny town in Colorado, but the young author's scope is huge. Buy this, and give it to everyone you truly care about. It will start wonderful conversations.

Pritchett's novel is a touching and brilliant work of art. Her evocation of place and of the human relationship to the landscape is wonderful.

John Gorka sings, "Life is full of disappointment, yes and I am full of life." This could be Libby's life he sings about.

Sky Bridge is set in Eastern Colorado, and I bought it because I like to support local authors. This book is literally an award-winner, though, and I have to say that having read it, I can see why. Gritty, romantic without being sentimental, well-characterized, and gripping. Laura Pritchett has a facility with words - she uses just enough and wastes none. She has met my rough-around-the-edges neighbor and made her Libby's mom. She has met the heartbroken man, the lonely hippie, the good-hearted rancher, and she's brought them all to life in this book. No one is a stereotype, and we like all of them. Well, most of them.

How funny was it that the author showed up in my daughter's classroom on Back-to-school night, and then again when I was walking with friends in my rural neighborhood. It IS a small world, and this IS a book worth reading!

Laura Pritchett's Sky Bridge is a beautifully written book with a heartbeat. Readers who have enjoyed Barbara Kingsolver's Bean Trees and Animal Dreams, Billie Lett's Where the Heart Is, and Louise Erdrich's Bingo Palace, should make room for Pritchett's aching yet hopeful portrait of life in hard-scrabble life in rural Colorado.

Pritchett paints a heartwarming portrait of a young woman trying to do the right thing, but she doesn't gloss over the limitations and difficulties of living in a small, isolated High Plains town. The characters are imperfect and surprising in their idiosyncrasies, like real people. Libby, the young protagonist who has committed herself to raising her sister Tess's unwanted baby girl, has one of the dearest, most honest hearts in literature. Yet even she stoops to stealing a few beers once in a while. Her voice is genuine, humorous and full of both youthful vitality and youthful frustration. Every Great Plains or Midwestern English teacher ought to assign this book. Reading it would be a liberating experience for any young person who ever felt stuck in a rural life while also trying to parse the narrow from the worthwhile in rural values.