-
Access Our
Most Anticipated
Books of 2025!
by Markus Zusak
An unforgettable and sweeping family saga from Markus Zusak.
The breathtaking story of five brothers who bring each other up in a world run by their own rules. As the Dunbar boys love and fight and learn to reckon with the adult world, they discover the moving secret behind their father's disappearance. At the center of the Dunbar family is Clay, a boy who will build a bridge - for his family, for his past, for greatness, for his sins, for a miracle. The question is, how far is Clay willing to go? And how much can he overcome? Written in powerfully inventive language and bursting with heart, Bridge of Clay is signature Zusak.
BookBrowse Review
"Markus Zusak's first novel since his best-selling The Book Thief, left me feeling exasperated and at times utterly bored. While Bridge of Clay possesses a compelling, breezy narrative voice that immediately draws you in, this tale of five Australian brothers reconnecting with their estranged father is too often meandering and sluggish. Furthermore, its fragmentary style (with chapters broken into small scenes that only last a few paragraphs) never allows you to fully settle into the story and will surely test many a reader's patience. Despite some excellent, lyrical prose this is a novel that would have greatly benefited from an unsparing edit." - Dean Muscat
Other Reviews
"Starred Review. With heft and historical scope, Zusak creates a sensitively rendered tale of loss, grief, and guilt's manifestations." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Zusak pushes the parameters of YA in this gorgeously written novel: a character has scrap-metal eyes; rain is like a ghost you could walk through. In the end, it always comes back to Clay, that lovely boy, as a neighbor calls him. A lovely boy and an unforgettably lovely book to match." - Booklist
This information about Bridge of Clay was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo © 2005 Bronwyn Rennex
Markus Zusak's novels include Fighting Ruben Wolfe, Getting The Girl , I Am The Messenger, The Book Thief and Bridge of Clay. He received the Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year Award for I Am the Messenger. He lives in Sydney, Australia, with his wife and children.
Jane and Dan at the End of the World
by Colleen Oakley
Date Night meets Bel Canto in this hilarious tale.
The Dream Hotel
by Laila Lalami
A Read with Jenna pick. A riveting novel about one woman's fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance.
Girl Falling
by Hayley Scrivenor
The USA Today bestselling author of Dirt Creek returns with a story of grief and truth.
The Antidote
by Karen Russell
A gripping dust bowl epic about five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their small Nebraskan town.
Raising Hare
by Chloe Dalton
A moving and fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, and loss through one woman's friendship with a wild hare.
Everywhere I go, I am asked if I think the university stifles writers...
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
