The Bridge by Jane Higgins

The Bridge by Jane Higgins. Pub. Text Publishing, 2011.

This novel is a finalist for the NZ Post Book Awards and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if it won.

My immediate reaction was I want more there has to be a sequel.

It took me a long time to get hold of a copy but once I did I devoured it. This is a classy first novel for young adults and it deals with the most desperate of scenarios, a civil war.

The City is divided by a river crossed by many bridges. Cityside appears to be winning but Southside have a different story.

Both sides feel that victory will bring peace and justice for everyone and in this novel Jane Higgins takes apart that argument.  Both sides claim to be winning and give new meaning to the word atrocities.

Nik has been schooled at a privileged school on Cityside, a school from which the rulers choose the ISIS,  a broad version of the Secret Service. After dominating his classmates in examinations Nik is rejected by ISIS. Why?

When terrorists from the Southside attack the school, several of NIk’s friends are killed and an 8 year old boy Sol is taken acoss the bridge. Nik and Sol’s sister Fyffe go over the bridge after Sol and encounter life in the Enemy camp. But who is the enemy?

The plot is clever, shifting and keeps you guessing, and the characters are masterly portrayed. The image of the bridge casts a spell over the plotl and the reader in this excellent novel. The cover is excellent.