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Bridge Ladies: A Memoir
Bridge Ladies: A Memoir | Betsy Lerner
20 posts | 16 read | 31 to read
A 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.After 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.Tentatively 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.By turns darkly funny and deeply moving, The Bridge Ladies is the unforgettable story of a hard-won--but never-too-late--bond between mother and daughter.
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TheBookgeekFrau
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TheBookHippie I love this book. 11mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 📚💚🌉 11mo
Eggs Lovely choice 👏🏻👏🏻 11mo
35 likes4 comments
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Betty
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Drove downtown to #indiebookstore for #SmallBusinessSaturday. Ack, parking lots were $20 because of the Univ. of Tenn. game. But I lucked out and found a free 30-minute slot right in front of the store!! Spent $101 there; some things for #ssgp and #geekygraphicnovelswap and this book for ME.

Tamra 👏🏾👏🏾 6y
Megabooks 👍🏻👍🏻 6y
TheBookHippie I loved this book! 6y
tpixie Perfect! A bridge book! God forbid parking would take any book $$ from you! 😀🤣😂😇 6y
73 likes1 stack add4 comments
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MindyK59
Pickpick

I chose to read this book because it reminded me of when I was a child and my mother played mah jongg each week. At first I wasn't sure I was going to like it but as I got into it I really started to enjoy it. So many parts of it could have been about my mother. It kind of gave me a different perspective of her. The story gave me a greater appreciation of the mother-daughter relationship.

MrBook Nice review! 7y
5 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Jen2
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Pickpick

Lovely story!!!

bibliophile1 On my TBR list. My mother also had loyal Bridge Club ladies! I can't wait to find it and read it! Do you think it would be better listening to it on tape? 7y
Jen2 I thought the narrator was great on this one! 7y
94 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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TheHeartlandBookFairy
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Pickpick

What a lovely and poignant book! It reminded both myself and a friend of The Astronauts Wives Club-similar era and cultural viewpoints. This book delves much deeper into the mother daughter relationship, aging and loss, and of course Bridge. I also learned that I don't think I will ever become a bridge player LOL 😂

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TheBookHippie
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Half way in and enjoying it!!

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Jenken1998
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Mehso-so

I enjoyed the writing. I thought this was going to be a memoir about the different bridge ladies... and it was.. but it was also therapy session about the authors relationship with her Mom. I think I just couldn't relate to the author. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

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Jinjer
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Pickpick

It was really good. A bit too close to home for me, taking care of my 89-yo mother. I could relate to the author way too much. But yah, really good book about women who got together every week to lunch & play bridge and the author trying to understand them and especially her own mother. End of an era. Or is it?

saresmoore Oh my goodness, I can imagine that would be close to home. Still, I may recommend to my mom who lives with her bridge-and-dominoes-playing 90-year-old mother and clashes wills with her every five minutes... 7y
Jinjer Yah she'll definitely relate @saresmoore 😀 7y
29 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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Scithighs
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Pickpick

I read this for book club, I was thinking ick how much more boring than a book about bridge! I actually loved it. It was a good memoir of growing up in the 50's and 60'. It provided a lot of questions I want to ask my mother.

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Jinjer
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Getting some reading in before work. Just regular coffee in the Christmasy mug I found in the back of mom's cabinet.🌲

8little_paws Pink tree?! I love it!! 7y
BookishBlonde12 Loving the pink tree!! 😍🎄 7y
Jinjer Thank you @8little_paws and @BookishBlonde12 !!! I love it too!❤️ 7y
See All 7 Comments
SusanInTiburon This makes me happy! 7y
Joybishoptx That pink tree is awesome! 7y
36 likes7 comments
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Jinjer
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It wasn't my intention to read memoir after memoir. It just so happened that memoirs were the first books on the library shelf that I was browsing and a bunch of them sounded good! Just finished "Alligator Candy". Once I got into it I found it hard to put down. The author took his time getting to the details of what happened to his 11-yo brother. I'm looking forward to this "darkly funny, deeply moving" story about mother & daughter.

31 likes2 stack adds
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Librarylady
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I'm enjoying The Bridge Ladies tonight but know that I will never learn the game of bridge as I'm confused just reading about it.

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Cathleennh
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Pickpick

Wow! Just loved this memoir about mothers and daughters, the changing expectations of life, love and work. Struck close to home, even though I'm not Jewish, nor did my Mom play bridge. Read this to remember your coming of age in the 70s.

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CherylDeFranceschi
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So, this gets moved to the top of the TBR pile now!

courtney I would buy a phone book if she recommended it 8y
CherylDeFranceschi @courtney Ha! Me, too! I love how obsessively she loves the books she loves! 8y
28 likes6 stack adds3 comments
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Jilanna
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Pickpick

Wonderful! I loved every sentence of this book, up to and including the last line of the acknowledgements. I read and loved Food and Loathing several years ago. Now I need to go look for The Forest for the Trees and will happily read anything else my new best friend Betsy writes.

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Jilanna
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There's a gem on every page. "Why am I always seated next to the Travis Bickles of the world?"

Cathleennh I agree! Love that line! 8y
3 likes1 comment
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Jilanna
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Saturday morning reading. Book 22 in 2016.

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BethFishReads
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Reminds me of the novel And Ladies of the Club. This, however, is a memoir about a 50-year-old bridge club & the women and events that connected the players through time and across generations. I'm interested in the links between mothers & daughters and the long friendships.

Rhondareads Reminded me of my mother's group of friends they played mahjong instead of bridge but their closeness was the same. 8y
Imlostinbooks Cool pic 😀 8y
23 likes7 stack adds2 comments
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MelindaOtt
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Current bedtime reading....

1 like1 stack add
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Rhondareads
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The loveliest memoir.Betsy Lerner's mom has belonged to the same Bridge Club for fifty five years.Bridge&lunch every Monday.The generation of women who dress up everyday.Betsy joins them &as their lives unfold Betsy&her mom reconnect.#bridgeladies

4 likes1 stack add