Bridge of Clay

by Markus Zusak

The Dunbar boys live in a suburb of Sydney, in a house of mayhem and madness that only five young boys can cause. Left to their own devices after their mother, Penny Dunbar, died of cancer, and their father, Michael Dunbar, ran out on them, the boys do their best to get along through life. The novel starts with their father, referred to as 'the murderer', coming back into their lives requesting their help to build a bridge. All of the brothers refuse, except Clay – who betrays his family in this act. Clay leaves school to go help his father, but before leaving Sydney meets up with their neighbour Carey Novac at the Surrounds, an old abandoned horse stables, as they do every Saturday night. The two talk about the previous horseraces of the week and obsess over The Quarryman, a book about Michelangelo. Clay leaves Carey with the book, and she says he has to come back for it.

Meanwhile, several years and decades prior, a young Penny sits at the piano with her father Waldek, who hits her hands with a twig every time she gets a note wrong. Growing up in the Eastern Bloc, Waldek wants a bigger life for his daughter – he mentors her at the piano and reads her The Illiad and The Odyssey. Proficient at the piano, Penny plays many concerts all over the Eastern Bloc, and Waldek decides that at the age of 18, she will play a concert in Vienna and never return. She is in a camp for nine months before Australia accepts her for entry. Once in Sydney, Penny works as a cleaner and an English as a Second Language teacher, but still misses her father and the piano. Eventually, she decides to gather up her savings and buy a piano, which instead of being delivered to her address, is delivered to Michael Dunbar, who lives further down on the same street. Michael, broken after the divorce from his wife Abbey, finds beauty in the world again through Penny. They get married and live happily in their house with their five sons until Penny gets cancer. Death creeps in, and at the end of her life Clay, not Michael, is the one to spend her final moments with her, outside in the garden underneath the clothesline.

Work on the bridge goes slow, and as the months and the work drags on, Clay returns several times to Sydney to see his brothers, and Carey, whose jockey career is coming along smoothly. She races several times, and always goes to the Surrounds every Saturday night. Carey wins most of her races, and eventually gets put up for a Group One race. The night before, she meets Clay at the Surrounds, and they sleep together. Carey wins the race, gets injured, and dies the next day. Overcome by grief, Clay blames himself for Carey's death and decides he must finish the bridge. Eventually the bridge is finished, and Clay disappears across the world for many years until he returns for Matthew's wedding. In the end all the brothers are together, at home.