The Bridges of Madison County
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox book
The Bridges of Madison County (also published as Love in Black and White)<ref name=ind/> is a 1992 best-selling romance novel<ref name=nyt/><ref name=spice>Template:Cite magazine</ref> by American writer Robert James Waller that tells the story of an Italian-American World War II war bride living on a farm in 1960s Madison County, Iowa. While her husband and children are away at the State Fair, she engages in an affair with a National Geographic photographer from Bellingham, Washington, who is visiting Madison County to create a photographic essay on the covered bridges in the area. The novel is presented as a novelization of a true story, but it is in fact entirely fictional.
The novel is one of the bestselling books of the 20th century, with 50 million copies sold worldwide.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was adapted into a feature film in 1995 and a musical in 2013.
Background
Without expecting to, Robert James Waller conceived of The Bridges of Madison County in the early 1990s. On leave from his teaching job at the University of Northern Iowa, Waller was photographing the Mississippi River with a friend when he decided to photograph the covered bridges of Madison County, Iowa.<ref name=nyt>Template:Cite news</ref> This event, alongside a song Waller wrote years earlier about "the dreams of a woman named Francesca", gave him the idea for the novel,<ref name=nyt/> which he completed in eleven days.<ref name=heavy>Template:Cite news</ref> After he had written The Bridges of Madison County, Waller came to believe that he had based the character of Francesca Johnson on his wife, Georgia, whom Francesca physically resembles.
Analysis
According to Marc Eliot, Waller's novella is a modernization of the Noël Coward play Still Life (1934), which was adapted into David Lean's film Brief Encounter (1945). Still Life is about "the desperation, guilt, and temptations of two married people who meet, fall in love, commit adultery, and then separate forever".Template:Sfn In The New York Times, Brigitte Weeks said that The Bridges of Madison County had appealed to "middle-aged, world-weary people" in a manner similar to the writings of James A. Michener, though it features more sexuality than Michener's books.<ref name="booknotes1"/> The Bridges of Madison County received multiple comparisons to Erich Segal's Love Story (1970) for its plot and prose.<ref name=rs/> For Rolling Stone, Peter Travers said that Waller's prose was modeled on Walt Whitman's work, but instead resembled a greeting card. Travers also said that The Bridges of Madison County exists within a tradition of "great romantic crocks" like Pat Conroy's The Prince of Tides (1986).<ref name=rs>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The New York Times Magazine found the novella's prose comparable to that of Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1970) by Richard Bach. The IndependentTemplate:'s Nicolette Jones found the novella reminiscent of the books published by Mills & Boon,<ref name=ind>Template:Cite news</ref> while Owen Gleiberman found it more similar to an anecdote than to a regular narrative.<ref name=spice/>
Reception
Orlando Sentinel<ref name=nyt/> Publishers Weekly found The Bridges of Madison County "Quietly powerful and thoroughly credible".<ref name=pw>Template:Cite news</ref> L.S. Klepp of Entertainment Weekly called The Bridges of Madison County "a short, poignant story, moving precisely because it has the ragged edges of reality".<ref>Klepp, L.S. "BOOK REVIEW: The Bridges of Madison County" June 12, 1992.</ref> Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the novella's "compelling" story for "elevating to a spiritual level the common fantasy, in which a virile stranger materializes in the kitchen of a quiet housewife and takes her into his arms."<ref name="Ebert">Template:Cite news</ref> The book debuted on the New York Times bestseller list in August 1992 and slowly climbed to number 1,<ref name="booknotes1">Lyall, Sarah (28 July 1993). "Book Notes: A Big Year for 'Bridges'", The New York Times</ref> and remained on the list for over three years (164 consecutive weeks), through October 8, 1995.<ref name="oct1995">(8 October 1995). "Best Seller List", The New York Times</ref>
Film adaptation
The Bridges of Madison County was made into a 1995 film of the same name, adapted by Richard LaGravenese and directed by Clint Eastwood. It stars Eastwood and Meryl Streep.
Musical adaptation
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Bridges of Madison County<ref>Official site bridgesofmadisoncountymusical</ref> was adapted into a Tony Award-winning<ref>Staff. "Just the Winners, Please: Who Won the 68th Annual Tony Awards" Template:Webarchive playbill.com, June 8, 2014</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> musical with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and the book by Marsha Norman, premiering at the 2013 Williamstown Theatre Festival. Directed by Bartlett Sher, the cast featured Elena Shaddow as Francesca and Steven Pasquale.<ref>Hetrick, Adam. " 'The Bridges of Madison County', Starring Steven Pasquale and Elena Shaddow, Premieres at Williamstown" Template:Webarchive playbill.com, August 1, 2013</ref> The musical began previews on Broadway at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on January 17, 2014 and officially opened on February 20, 2014 with Kelli O'Hara as Francesca and Steven Pasquale as Robert Kincaid. Directed by Bartlett Sher, the sets are by Michael Yeargan, costumes by Catherine Zuber, and lighting by Donald Holder.<ref>Hetrick, Adam. " 'The Bridges of Madison County', Starring Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale, Arrives on Broadway Jan. 17" Template:Webarchive playbill.com, January 17, 2014</ref><ref>Gioia, Michael and Hetrick, Adam. "'The Bridges of Madison County' Will Open on Broadway One Week Earlier Than Expected" Template:Webarchive playbill.com, November 26, 2013</ref><ref>Staff."The Verdict: Critics Review 'The Bridges of Madison County'" Template:Webarchive playbill.com, February 21, 2014</ref> Hunter Foster played the role of Bud Johnson, the husband of Francesca.<ref>Hetrick, Adam. "Hunter Foster Completes Love Triangle of Broadway Musical The Bridges of Madison County'" Template:Webarchive playbill.com, December 3, 2013</ref> It closed in May of the same year after 100 performances.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Theatre
In 2018, the Argentine theatrical director Luis "Indio" Romero directed the actors Facundo Arana and Araceli González in a Spanish version of the work.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>