The Bridges of Madison County

“In an increasingly callous world, we all exist with our own carapaces of scabbed-over sensibilities. Where great passion leaves off and mawkishness begins, I’m not sure. But our tendency to scoff at the possibility of the former and to label genuine and profound feelings as maudlin makes it difficult to enter the realm of gentleness required to understand the story of Francesca Johnson and Robert Kincaid.”

The narrator warns the reader that the story which follows contains intense romance that cynics will reject as treacly sentimentality. He anticipates many of the critics who later panned the novel as cheesy. He’s asking the reader to keep an open mind and accept the possibility that a real, deep, true romantic love between two adults is possible, even in this day and age.

“Robert Kincaid was as alone as it’s possible to be—an only child, parents both dead, distant relatives who had lost track of him and he of them, no close friends. He knew the names of the man who owned the corner market in Bellingham and the proprietor of the photographic store where he bought his supplies. He also had formal, professional relationships with several magazine editors. Other than that, he knew scarcely anyone well, nor they him. Gypsies make difficult friends for ordinary people, and he was something of a gypsy.”

The author stresses that Robert lives a lonely life. His travels restlessly, searching for the beauty of the world, alone with his thoughts and dreams; few will ever know him well. Solitude prepares him, and the reader, for the contrasting intensity of the connection he will feel with Francesca.

“Robert, there’s a creature inside of you that I’m not good enough to bring out, not strong enough to reach. I sometimes have the feeling you’ve been here a long time, more than one lifetime, and that you’ve dwelt in private places none of the rest of us has even dreamed about.”

Robert’s now-and-again Bellingham girlfriend recognizes his loneliness, but it’s too deeply entrenched. Robert is aware of what she discerns, but he doesn’t reveal it deliberately. His cool exterior belies the banked fires within. Later, Robert himself will allude to the possibility of past lives, underscoring the character’s preoccupation with impermanence.