The Bridge on the Drina

The Bridge on the Drina is a 1945 historical fiction novel by Ivo Andrić, translated from Serbo-Croat by Lovett F. Edwards. It tells the story of a bridge built in Višegrad that linked disparate communities from the east and west.

Plot Summary

The novel opens with a description of the scenery surrounding Višegrad, a fertile valley with high forested mountains on either side. The bridge spans the Drina, the largest river, and a second smaller bridge spans the Rzav. The middle of the bridge widens to form the kapia, which features a stone monument and a fountain. Višegrad is home to Muslim and Christian townspeople, as well as Jews and Roma. There are many local legends that focus on the bridge. A bridge crossing the Drina is first imagined by a young Christian boy, taken from the area as part of the Ottoman blood tribute. He grows up to become Mehmed Pasha, a powerful man in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman workers arrive in the quiet village and cause disruption. Abidaga, who has a reputation for cruel leadership, oversees the project. The locals begin to resent the sudden influx of workers.

Radisav is a Serb from a nearby village who inspires a campaign of sabotage against the bridge. He is eventually caught and executed by being impaled. Radisav becomes a folk hero in his death. After the winter, however, Abidaga is replaced by a more lenient project leader. The bridge is completed and the townspeople begin to see its benefits. Alongside the bridge, a caravanserai is also built. Mehmed Pasha is assassinated. At the end of the 1600s, the Ottoman Empire begins to contract. The caravanserai falls into disrepair, but the bridge stands strong. Even a flood that destroys much of the town has no effect on the bridge. Višegrad is close to many conflicts. When Serbs rise up in rebellion, suspected insurgents are executed and their heads placed on the bridge. The issue of the border becomes more and more important, causing many arguments.

Fata, the daughter of Avdaga Osmanagić is known for her beauty. Though she has already rejected him, a marriage is arranged between her and Nail Hamzić. They are from different villages on either side of the river. Fata is distraught; on the day of the wedding, she throws herself from the bridge. Songs about her beauty are sung in the town for centuries. Fresh Serbian revolts lead to more executions. The Turkish townspeople meet to discuss what to do, and Alihodja warns them against fighting. Osman Effendi, however, wants to fight the Austrians who have invaded Sarajevo. The Austrians arrive in Višegrad; and the Turkish soldiers flee but not before Osman orders Alihodja to be nailed to a board on the bridge by his ear. The Austrians find Alihodja and give him medical aid. The Austrian occupation begins. The town’s religious leaders are convened to meet with the Austrian military commander. The man is late and hardly pays them any attention, so they return home.

Life continues in the town, mostly unchanged. Certain Turkish men refuse to acknowledge the new Christian occupiers. The Austrians institute a rebuilding of large infrastructure around the town and repair the bridge. Milan Glasičanin has a problem with gambling. One night, he meets a man and ends up playing cards on the bridge. Soon, Milan has gambled everything he owns. However, the man vanishes mysteriously, and Milan gives up gambling for the rest of his life. The stranger is never seen again.

Conscription to the Austrian army causes civil unrest. A Galatian soldier is tricked by a Serbian brigand and is court-martialed. He kills himself. New businesses are built. Lotte’s hotel, run by a Jewish widow, is hugely successful. Lotte uses her profits to lift up her impoverished family. Salko Ćorkan, one of the town’s drunks, is tricked into believing that a beautiful girl is in love with him. When she marries another man, he falls into a deep depression. One night, he drunkenly walks along the parapet of the bridge from one side to the other, becoming a local legend. The bridge is repaired again though Alihodja (now old) mistrusts the Austrians’ intentions. His warnings fall on deaf ears. When a railway is built, he is even more convinced that modernization is evil. A mine is placed inside the bridge.

Students returning from universities stoke the fires of nationalism and meet on the kapia. Janko Stiković and Nikola Glasičanin fall out over Zorka, a local schoolmistress. Lotte’s business is failing. She is old and exhausted; her efforts to elevate her family have not succeeded. Glasičanin offers to take Zorka to America, but she asks for time to answer. The assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand interrupts life. Serbs are arrested; men are hanged in the town squares. The town is shelled, forcing the residents to flee to the houses on the outskirts. Serbs stay with Serbs; Turks stay with Turks. Lotte and her family flee, though she suffers a nervous breakdown. Alihodja returns to his shop once a day to escape the noise and stress of his home. The town is entirely evacuated. The final patrol finds Alihodja sitting on the stoop of his store. An explosion destroys his store as well as the bridge. On the walk home, Alihodja suffers a heart attack and dies.