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The Bridge #0.5
The Beginning
Prequel to Karen Kingsbury's new book, The Bridge, shedding light on the love story behind the bookstore and how it came to be a place of warmth, hope and encouragement. Includes excerpt from The Bridge.
64 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 18, 2012
315 people are currently reading
2595 people want to read
About the author
Karen Kingsbury
208 books12k followersKaren Kingsbury, #1 New York Times bestselling novelist, is America’s favorite inspirational storyteller, with more than twenty-five million copies of her award-winning books in print. Her last dozen titles have topped bestseller lists and many of her novels are under development with Hallmark Films and as major motion pictures. Her Baxter Family books are being developed into a TV series slated for major network viewing sometime in the next year. Karen is also an adjunct professor of writing at Liberty University. In 2001 she and her husband, Don, adopted three boys from Haiti, doubling their family in a matter of months. Today the couple has joined the ranks of empty nesters, living in Tennessee near five of their adult children.
See more at: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/K...
See more at: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/K...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 173 reviews
January 2, 2019
This has got to be the most moving short story I've ever read. It's filled with grief, heartbreak, hope, and resiliency...
Best of all, it's about the healing power of books.
"A small-town bookstore would bridge the pain of yesterday to the promise of tomorrow."
I was on the verge of tears -- so close! And this is only a prequel?! My goodness, I just don't know if I can make it through the novel of 'The Bridge' in one piece (probably not), but I'm ready to start reading it next.
Or rather this very instant...
"'We prayed we'd meet people like you. Hurting people who needed God and a good book. So they'd have a chance to survive.'"
Note to the discerning reader and parents: This is a clean read, but there are a couple of chapters concerning pregnancy and labor complications. Nothing graphic though. A mature 12-year-old reader could handle it.
Best of all, it's about the healing power of books.
"A small-town bookstore would bridge the pain of yesterday to the promise of tomorrow."
I was on the verge of tears -- so close! And this is only a prequel?! My goodness, I just don't know if I can make it through the novel of 'The Bridge' in one piece (probably not), but I'm ready to start reading it next.
Or rather this very instant...
"'We prayed we'd meet people like you. Hurting people who needed God and a good book. So they'd have a chance to survive.'"
Note to the discerning reader and parents: This is a clean read, but there are a couple of chapters concerning pregnancy and labor complications. Nothing graphic though. A mature 12-year-old reader could handle it.
April 25, 2025
Found myself completely absorbed in this novella from the first page. Very, very good! Faith based for sure, with strong character development and a solid foundation to build on on for the The Bridge. Really looking forward to starting The Bridge after finishing this!
March 10, 2021
I am a bookworm that will read and give a chance to every book that will fall on my hands. The truth is Christian-fiction is a hit and miss, and for me, 'The Beginning' felt like a miss. I understand the grief of the main characters of the short story is understandable. The idea of opening the bookstore with a fantastic name, 'The Bridge,' is very accurate.
The concept of a bookstore where minds are expanded, and souls healed appealed to me immensely. However... As much as I wanted The Beginning and The Bridge to be good, I could not help thinking her writing fell short of her usual excellence.
Even though the premise of the first novel of the series has many potentials, I don't connect so much with the premise and the theame of the book even if it is about a bookstore, I felt the religious elements overshadow the plot.
The concept of a bookstore where minds are expanded, and souls healed appealed to me immensely. However... As much as I wanted The Beginning and The Bridge to be good, I could not help thinking her writing fell short of her usual excellence.
Even though the premise of the first novel of the series has many potentials, I don't connect so much with the premise and the theame of the book even if it is about a bookstore, I felt the religious elements overshadow the plot.
January 31, 2017
This was a nice book to read. I actually enjoyed this slightly more than "The Bridge". It was interesting to get the story of how "The Bridge" came to be.
March 22, 2018
Kingsbury can do no wrong if you let me tell it. This book of sorrow, healing and hope was good in a settling kind of way. My favorite part of the book was this..."Love is the only thing that we cam carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy. "
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November 24, 2019Sweet.
November 30, 2012
I absolutely love the premise behind this story. A bookstore named The Bridge, with owners that care more about the people that walk through the front door than the sales that walk out. A place where community members can find a safe haven, open up, get personalized book recommendations as well as friendship, and hopefully eventually find their way out of whatever darkness they were in to the hope and happiness on the other side of the bridge.
I was tempted to pick up The Bridge and then happily saw that there was a prequel called The Beginning....so I figured I'd best start there. The Beginning is a short story/novella that tells the powerful stories of heartbreak and hope of the owners of the bookshop (Donna & Charlie) and the first customer (Edna) that they "help." The stories were heartbreaking in their details and uplifting in the way that they were able to move beyond the pain and re-build themselves and their lives, yet I didn't find that there was any real emotional impact. I felt awful for the characters but didn't manage to find a way to connect with them or really "feel" their pain. That may be a product of the length of the short story but I fear it may have more to do with Kingsbury's writing style.
The narrator did a lovely job of conveying Kingsbury's words, but I don't feel that the content enabled her to shine in any particular way...perhaps/hopefully as the story deepens in The Bridge so will the emotional content thus allowing LaVoy more opportunity to test her acting chops. I don't know however that I'll be continuing with the series to find out.
On a side note: I did not realize going into this that it was Christian Fiction. I don't read a lot of Christian Fiction as I sometimes feel that the religious elements overshadow the plot. (Just my personal opinion as a spiritual but non-religious individual) That said there were many moments within this story where I felt that the dialogue and actions of the characeters seemed too effusive or simply too good to be true. It sort of jarred me and through me off the story. I am sure that the interactions are realistic for a small percentage of the population (and it probably would be a wonderful world if they were true of a larger percentage) but since there were so far out of the realm of what seems realistic to me, I had a little bit of trouble getting past them and back into the story.
I was tempted to pick up The Bridge and then happily saw that there was a prequel called The Beginning....so I figured I'd best start there. The Beginning is a short story/novella that tells the powerful stories of heartbreak and hope of the owners of the bookshop (Donna & Charlie) and the first customer (Edna) that they "help." The stories were heartbreaking in their details and uplifting in the way that they were able to move beyond the pain and re-build themselves and their lives, yet I didn't find that there was any real emotional impact. I felt awful for the characters but didn't manage to find a way to connect with them or really "feel" their pain. That may be a product of the length of the short story but I fear it may have more to do with Kingsbury's writing style.
The narrator did a lovely job of conveying Kingsbury's words, but I don't feel that the content enabled her to shine in any particular way...perhaps/hopefully as the story deepens in The Bridge so will the emotional content thus allowing LaVoy more opportunity to test her acting chops. I don't know however that I'll be continuing with the series to find out.
On a side note: I did not realize going into this that it was Christian Fiction. I don't read a lot of Christian Fiction as I sometimes feel that the religious elements overshadow the plot. (Just my personal opinion as a spiritual but non-religious individual) That said there were many moments within this story where I felt that the dialogue and actions of the characeters seemed too effusive or simply too good to be true. It sort of jarred me and through me off the story. I am sure that the interactions are realistic for a small percentage of the population (and it probably would be a wonderful world if they were true of a larger percentage) but since there were so far out of the realm of what seems realistic to me, I had a little bit of trouble getting past them and back into the story.
March 1, 2022
The sweetest short story, filled with many emotions and the healing power of friendship and books.
April 14, 2025
Very emotional.....loved it!
December 31, 2025
4.5 stars.
This was a really cute, emotional, sad and healing little novella prequel.
I am now going straight into reading The Bridge.
This was a really cute, emotional, sad and healing little novella prequel.
I am now going straight into reading The Bridge.
July 18, 2019
Make me craving a cup of coffee at the night. Awesome story 😊
February 7, 2013
Charles and Donna move to Franklin to start a business that they can use to minister to hurting people in the community. They recently experienced the loss of a child, so they know how pain can seem very overwhelming. They decide to open a bookstore, making it as cozy and welcoming as they could.
Edna is a newlywed trying to cope with her husband off fighting a war in Vietnam. She wakes up one morning with a sense of doom and later that day hears a knock on the door and the doom becomes big and very painful. They have come to tell her that her beloved husband Tom will never be coming home. Struggling with beginning again Edna eventually goes out into the world and finds a job and she also discovers the bookstore.
Edna enters the store to find a book that will help her escape into another world away from her pain. She meets Donna and a thread of a friendship begins that will help to draw her out and into a new future.
I love Karen Kingsbury and her stories are always so well written and the characters so well developed. I can't want to see who will be the next person that Charles and Donna will meet and help.
Edna is a newlywed trying to cope with her husband off fighting a war in Vietnam. She wakes up one morning with a sense of doom and later that day hears a knock on the door and the doom becomes big and very painful. They have come to tell her that her beloved husband Tom will never be coming home. Struggling with beginning again Edna eventually goes out into the world and finds a job and she also discovers the bookstore.
Edna enters the store to find a book that will help her escape into another world away from her pain. She meets Donna and a thread of a friendship begins that will help to draw her out and into a new future.
I love Karen Kingsbury and her stories are always so well written and the characters so well developed. I can't want to see who will be the next person that Charles and Donna will meet and help.
May 31, 2015
The beginning is a short story of two women, Edna and Donna, who both have lost someone dear to them and struggles to recover from the loss. Donna and her husband set up a cozy bookshop the Bridge, to help provide a place for people to forget their troubles whilst being transported away by a good book. Edna is one of their customers and she finds that books are helping to heal her. The two become friends and share their stories.
December 8, 2015
First Karen Kingsbury book finished and I see why so many people love her work! Excited to read more by her.
May 4, 2024
I guess I didn't read the description very carefully ("e-short", 64 pages), so I was surprised that this was such a short book. While it may be an introduction to the (then-) upcoming "The Bridge", and perhaps it whetted my appetite for the full book, I didn't really feel as if all that much happened to prepare me. I guess time will tell when I can borrow "The Bridge" ("0 of 0 copies available" on Overdrive; what does that even mean?); or maybe it is not even an option to borrow it online.
So this story was fine, but it just felt like a chapter or two of a book. And having finished it a few minutes ago, I don't feel that I know the characters or the plot--only that one or two couples lost a baby, and one of the wives lost a husband. While I see the description says it sheds light on the love story behind the bookstore, I don't recall hearing about the bookstore, so either that is introduced in The Bridge, or I just didn't catch it.
So this story was fine, but it just felt like a chapter or two of a book. And having finished it a few minutes ago, I don't feel that I know the characters or the plot--only that one or two couples lost a baby, and one of the wives lost a husband. While I see the description says it sheds light on the love story behind the bookstore, I don't recall hearing about the bookstore, so either that is introduced in The Bridge, or I just didn't catch it.
January 22, 2020
This is a prequel to "The Bridge." It is short, sweet and lovely.
Having experienced their own tragedy, Charles and Donna decide they want to do something to help other hurting people to get over their own hurts. The couple opens a bookstore, The Bridge. They envision the power of stories helping others to heal from their own sorrows. Sure enough, a few books in, one of their customers (turned friend) is struck by a line from "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott, "Love is the only thing that we cam carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy. " This was the sentence that helped her heal. (Lovely sentence and sentiment, if I do say so myself.)
Bonus: you get the first chapter of The Bridge as well. Wonderful...real life situations, hurt, pain, love and healing.
Having experienced their own tragedy, Charles and Donna decide they want to do something to help other hurting people to get over their own hurts. The couple opens a bookstore, The Bridge. They envision the power of stories helping others to heal from their own sorrows. Sure enough, a few books in, one of their customers (turned friend) is struck by a line from "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott, "Love is the only thing that we cam carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy. " This was the sentence that helped her heal. (Lovely sentence and sentiment, if I do say so myself.)
Bonus: you get the first chapter of The Bridge as well. Wonderful...real life situations, hurt, pain, love and healing.
December 11, 2017
This was a heart wrenching AND heart warming book. The characters have some sad life experiences that they had to go through and I can only imagine the heartbreak they had to endure. But the silver lining is that they are also inspiring in the way that they overcame the pain and sorrow. The bookstore "The Bridge" helped the young widow deal with her loss and the owners found new purpose in their life. I loved the connection to the books and the plot of books helping people heal and come unto God. I love reading books and have found them to be, not only a great escape, but also a way to learn about life and how others are feeling. I can't wait to read "The Bridge" book next.
August 28, 2019
This short piece was included at the back of the book "The Bridge". It tells the story of Donna and Charlie--briefly explaining how they met, their pregnancy and loss of the baby, and how it drove them to open the bookstore. It also tells the story of Edna and Tom--well, mostly of Edna because she's a widow by the time she meets Donna. Edna is one of the early customers of the bookstore and also the person who gifted Donna and Charlie the scrapbook that features in the book "The Bridge"--in fact, Edna's picture is the first one put in the book.
It's not the best writing. There's a lot of telling rather than showing and a lot of summary narration.
It's not the best writing. There's a lot of telling rather than showing and a lot of summary narration.
January 1, 2024
I loved The Bridge, the book for which this is a prequel, so I had to read this short story with the backstory of how the beloved bookstore for which the story is named came to be! It was short and sweet. It was a touching story of the owners’ life before The Bridge and one of the first people whose life was changed by the store. You already get part of the story from the original book, so it’s not too revolutionary to the story, just some extra detail. Also - wouldn’t recommend watching The Bridge movie before reading this because it incorporates many elements of the prequel, and thus kind of spoiled this read for me. It would be great to read right after finishing The Bridge though!
September 16, 2018
Touched my heart in so many ways
My mother has been trying to get me to read Karen Kingsbury for years! I had read one book several years ago and enjoyed it, but I wasn’t reading fiction in those days. A couple of years ago, my husband and I sat and watched “The Bridge” and the sequel on TV with Mom. Well, as a book fanatic, a supporter of local businesses and a true believer that books can change lives in profound ways, I fell in love with The Bridge bookstore, Charlie and Donna, and all the people whose lives they touch. God works through people ... and books.
My mother has been trying to get me to read Karen Kingsbury for years! I had read one book several years ago and enjoyed it, but I wasn’t reading fiction in those days. A couple of years ago, my husband and I sat and watched “The Bridge” and the sequel on TV with Mom. Well, as a book fanatic, a supporter of local businesses and a true believer that books can change lives in profound ways, I fell in love with The Bridge bookstore, Charlie and Donna, and all the people whose lives they touch. God works through people ... and books.
February 17, 2023
Great Series Beginning
This was a great little beginning to the beloved series by an incredibly talented Christian author. Heartrending at times, the lives of the characters have left me wanting to read more (and I have, but it's been awhile). I'm planning to reread the rest of the books in the series! I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book, but it did not in any way affect my review. All opinions are my own.
This was a great little beginning to the beloved series by an incredibly talented Christian author. Heartrending at times, the lives of the characters have left me wanting to read more (and I have, but it's been awhile). I'm planning to reread the rest of the books in the series! I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book, but it did not in any way affect my review. All opinions are my own.
April 17, 2019
“Books were changing her life. But she didn’t consider the idea that they could do so much more. That they might actually heal her.”
After college, I took a hiatus from books, though before they were my beloved friend ever since the moment the ability to read clicked in my brain. This quote and the idea behind The Bridge speak volumes to me and resonate deep within me.
After college, I took a hiatus from books, though before they were my beloved friend ever since the moment the ability to read clicked in my brain. This quote and the idea behind The Bridge speak volumes to me and resonate deep within me.
December 23, 2020
This is a prequel to "The Bridge." It is short, sweet, and lovely. The characters have some sad life experiences that they had to go through and endure. But the silver lining is that they are also inspiring in the way that they overcame the pain and sorrow. The bookstore "The Bridge" helped the young widow deal with her loss and the owners found a new purpose in their life.
October 28, 2025
I read this because I needed to read a prequel for a reading challenge. Not sure yet if I’ll read the book it leads to, but I enjoyed this short introduction.
Two sad losses on the same day somehow knit hearts together as books help people find a way forward. It’s sad (and a bit cheesy,) but sweet and heartwarming.
Two sad losses on the same day somehow knit hearts together as books help people find a way forward. It’s sad (and a bit cheesy,) but sweet and heartwarming.
March 23, 2017
Honestly, I have to say, this is one of the most realistic prequel to an even more realistic and true-to-life novels I have ever read! These chsracters, their emotions, their whole lives, are so vivid, so palpable, as to immerse one in life as we know it and as we don't. Excellent literatute from one who is expert in both life and literature in the broad sense of both! My highest praise and adulation to Kingsbury!! My strongest recommendations for those who have not yet experienced this most sensible and sophisticated, admirable author!!
October 22, 2017
The story of a couple whose baby dies at birth and another woman who loses her husband in Viet Nam. They meet up at "The Bridge-a book store. Good story line but kind of depressing. The bookstore is where the woman learns about God and her life is changed.
November 21, 2017
Another good book about God's work.
This book could not be anything but good since it was Karen's. Can hardly wait to start reading The Bridge. Will let you know that book goes. I already know. Or I think I know. Talk to you later
This book could not be anything but good since it was Karen's. Can hardly wait to start reading The Bridge. Will let you know that book goes. I already know. Or I think I know. Talk to you later
November 10, 2018
Captivating
This prequel story was absolutely captivating. You were drawn into each character's story, felt their pain, their joy and their healing. Can not wait to read the full story.
This prequel story was absolutely captivating. You were drawn into each character's story, felt their pain, their joy and their healing. Can not wait to read the full story.
November 11, 2019
Wonderful Quick Read for Kingsbury fans
I needed something short & sweet to read and this was perfect! Karen Kingsbury NEVER disappoints. I’m always drawn in within the first paragraph.
I needed something short & sweet to read and this was perfect! Karen Kingsbury NEVER disappoints. I’m always drawn in within the first paragraph.
May 9, 2020
The Beginning is a fantastic and amazing short book with a lot of things embedded.
Sorrow, Heartbreak, Grief, Faith, Love, Hope for the future...
I can't stop loving you, Karen Kingsbury.
I love the name of the bookstore; it's so perfect! And to think this is just a prequel, lol
Sorrow, Heartbreak, Grief, Faith, Love, Hope for the future...
I can't stop loving you, Karen Kingsbury.
I love the name of the bookstore; it's so perfect! And to think this is just a prequel, lol
Displaying 1 - 30 of 173 reviews