The latest addition to my website is Maylis de Kerangal‘s Naissance d’un pont (Birth of a Bridge). As the title tells us it is about the building of a bridge, in this case in the fictitious US town of Coca. The project is led by the seasoned Georges Diderot and we follow his story as well as the stories of a few other involved, including a few women such as the person in charge of the concrete. I found the various problems in building a bridge fascinating from the quantities involved and a variety of technical issues to such things as labour disputes, opposition and sabotage by the local Mafia, environmental issues and the effect on the nearby Native American population, But we also follow the stories of a few of the characters including of course sex and romance as well as issues with parents and other relatives. This is certainly different from many novels and a very interesting read.