Book excerpt: A family struggles in the aftermath of a tragic car accident in this psychological novel by the author of Keeping Lucy. Sylvie can hardly bear to remember how normal her family was two years ago. All of that changed on the night an oncoming vehicle forced their car over the edge of a covered bridge into the river. With horrible swiftness, Sylvie’s young son was gone, her husband lost his legs, and she was left with shattering blame and grief. Eleven-year-old Ruby misses her little brother, too. But she also misses the mother who has become a recluse in their old home while Ruby and her dad try to piece themselves back together. Amid all the uncertainty in her life, Ruby becomes obsessed with bridges, drawing inspiration from the strength and purpose that underlies their grace. During one momentous week, as Hurricane Irene bears down on their small Vermont town and a pregnant teenager with a devastating secret gradually draws Sylvie back into the world, Ruby and her mother will have a chance to span the gap between them again. Praise for The Forever Bridge “I loved The Forever Bridge from its first beautiful sentence to its breathtaking final one.” —Ann Hood “This is contemporary fiction at its finest, a story that will tug on your heart strings and keep you reading with your heart and soul.” —Random Book Musings