THE BRIDGE

J.S. Breukelaar

‘Spellbinding… ‘
Paula Guran
Locus Magazine
‘Gothic and feminist, Meera’s coming of age story is compelling.’
Forward Reviews
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Published by Meerkat Press.


A startlingly original novel that dizzyingly keeps erasing and redrawing the distinction between magic and science fiction as it takes apart what it means to belong or not belong. A story about reparations, necromancy, and college cliques, and about the way in which the world, in being made and remade, remains both incandescent and deadly.”
Brian Evenson
Award-winning author of Song for the Unraveling of the World

A twisting tale of what it means to live with the scars of your survival that crosses the territory between Shirley Jackson and Emma Cline.  The world of The Bridge is as harrowing as it is expertly realised, demonstrating once again that J. S. Breukelaar is a talent to be discovered. Utterly captivating stuff
Helen Marshall
Author of The Migration

The Bridge has one foot in dystopian darkness and one foot deep in a mythology that feels both new and subconsciously familiar. All at once beautiful and terrifying, this is horror that hits close to the heart and close to home
Sarah Read
Author of The Bone Weaver’s Orchard

Casts a dark, mesmerising, poetic spell
Kaaron Warren
Author of Slights

REVIEWS

With genetic manipulation, hints of magic and the spirit world, and a subtle spattering of the grotesque, The Bridge draws on competing speculative fiction tropes to imagine a world where hidden fears brew and ferment. The Bridge does exactly what its title claims—it bridges liminal spaces between science fiction, fantasy and horror, and blends them to create an eerie, somewhat gothic, world with an Australian twist. . . For fans of neurological programming, witchcraft, blood and horror—The Bridge crosses catastrophic thresholds.

Aurealis Magazine

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J.S. Breukelaar’s The Bridge may be a challeng­ing read for some, but it is certainly a rewarding one. Breukelaar immediately immerses the reader in a complex world with a complicated protagonist. Information is integrated seamlessly into the plot and everything becomes clearer only as one continues to read. . . .. As Meera’s tale is told, more back­story is revealed. Staying with it is not difficult – Breukelaar’s dark novel is spellbinding – just don’t expect much to be laid out upfront.

Locus Magazine.

It feels impossible to attempt to précis this dark, disturbing and complex story without removing the elements of surprise which emerge through the author’s masterly-controlled switches in time, shifts which provided bridges between past and present and which also incorporate an initially rather unsettling, but ultimately very effective, change of tense…what underpins all the magic, mythology, supernatural elements and science fiction is a credible psychological exploration of the wide-ranging themes the story encompasses.

NB Magazine