Among the Missing [Across the Bridge]

An accident can end a life. The same accident can begin one. Three lives collide in the wake of an unforeseeable tragedy. When a bridge collapses in the Highlands of Scotland, dozens of commuters vanish into the freezing river below, swept by the currents toward the sea, and only an amateur video and the bridge’s security camera record their last moments. A woman tourist, whose car was filmed pulling onto the bridge seconds before it fell, is assumed to be among the missing. But in desperate need of money, she had sold the car only hours before. Now she can begin life over. Her path leads her to a spartan cabin on the bank of the river where, as Annabel, she is reborn, free from her past. Here she lives with Silva, an illegal immigrant whose predicament is compounded by the disappearance of her husband and their child. She waits for them each day, clinging to hope against overwhelming evidence. The two women are befriended by the boatman Ron, and together they create a fragile sanctuary in the shadow of the bridge that has changed their lives. They keep secrets from one another, yet also connect in ways none of them expects. Lost souls all, they struggle to survive, to trust, and to love even as the consequences of the past prove inescapable. A masterly novel about the invisible ties that bind us to our identities, to our histories, and to one another, Among the Missing soars with the peerless voice of the author described by P. D. James as an “exciting talent.” Morag Joss, with the psychological penetration and the finely wrought prose that are her hallmarks, spins a brilliant tale of damage and reparation, suspicion and salvation. An accident can end a life. The same accident can begin one. Three lives collide in the wake of an unforeseeable tragedy. When a bridge collapses in the Highlands of Scotland, dozens of commuters vanish into the freezing river below, swept by the currents toward the sea, and only an amateur video and the bridge's security camera record their last moments. A woman tourist, whose car was filmed pulling onto the bridge seconds before it fell, is assumed to be among the missing. But in desperate need of money, she had sold the car only hours before. Now she can begin life over. Her path leads her to a spartan cabin on the bank of the river where, as Annabel, she is reborn, free from her past. Here she lives with Silva, an illegal immigrant whose predicament is compounded by the disappearance of her husband and their child. She waits for them each day, clinging to hope against overwhelming evidence. The two women are befriended by the boatman Ron, and together they create a fragile sanctuary in the shadow of the bridge that has changed their lives. They keep secrets from one another, yet also connect in ways none of them expects. Lost souls all, they struggle to survive, to trust, and to love even as the consequences of the past prove inescapable. A masterly novel about the invisible ties that bind us to our identities, to our histories, and to one another, Among the Missing soars with the peerless voice of the author described by P.D. James as an "exciting talent." Morag Joss, with the psychological penetration and the finely wrought prose that are her hallmarks, spins a brilliant tale of damage and reparation, suspicion and salvation. From the Hardcover edition "Invermuir, a quiet town in Scotland, is rocked when a commuter bridge collapses, plunging people and their cars into the river below. Annabel was supposed to be in one of those cars, the camera on the bridge sees the vehicle start to cross right before the collapse. But Annabel secretly sold her car to Stephen, an immigrant trying to bring his daughter Anna, and his wife, Silva, a better life by using it as a taxi. In the aftermath of the bridge tragedy, Silva waits for her husband to come home, her small shed on the banks of the river where he drowned. This is where Annabel, pregnant and presumed dead, finds her, and together the two women form an uneasy alliance, living together, sharing the chores, hiding from their pasts. Ron soon joins them, a man who is escaping the stigma of being an ex-convict, who finds purpose in transporting people across the river while the bridge is rebuilt. But secrets cannot stay buried forever, and soon the peace the three live in will be shattered. For Annabel and Silva, the truth will bring with it tragic consequences, as lies, betrayals, and the past come roaring back with unimaginable fury"-- Provided by publisher