The Bridge: heartbreaking reality with hopeful possibilities

The Bridge by Kay Bratt. In present day China, the home of an old woman faces the Lucky Bridge, the famous bridge where birth parents leave their children in the hopes that someone will find them and give them a better future. In the old days, walking over the bridge during a marriage ceremony or at the New Year was said to bring the individual good luck. Mothers hope that the bridge’s luck would be bestowed on their children. Jing is the unofficial and reluctant guardian of the bridge. When no one else steps in, Jing does. Briefly taking them in and then delivering them to a local orphanage. She always said she was done, no more children. Until one day, one little boy, Fei Fei, softens her heart and changes her life. 

Inspired by her real life experience while working in a Chinese orphanage, Kay Bratt writes a heartwarming and compassionate novella. The Bridge is a short but powerful read. She also wrote a memoir about her experience in China and in the orphanage, Silent Tears; A Journey of Hope in a Chinese Orphanage. Having read the memoir and knowing the background of this phenomenon of parents abandoning their children gives The Bridge its heartbreaking reality and yet hopeful possibilities. I loved the main characters of Jing, Fei Fei, and Jing’s daughter, Qian. I highly recommend reading The Bridge as well as Silent Tears. It will break your heart but leaving you believing in the power of the change a single person can bring. 

The Bridge is available in eBook

Silent Tears; A Journey of Hope in a Chinese Orphanage 

is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook