Bridges of Madison County by Robert James

¶ … Bridges of Madison County" by Robert James Waller. Bridges of Madison County is this author's first novel and is a love story of a photographer and a farmer's wife. The paper will give an overview of the main characters and the basic story line of the book.

The Bridges of Madison County

The Bridges of Madison County is written by Robert James Waller and is the author's first novel. Bridges of Madison County is a romantic classic of the 1990s' based on a romance between a photographer and a farmer's wife who happen to come into each other's life and experience a passion and love which lasts with them forever. 52-year-old divorcee Robert Kincaid travels to Iowa's Madison County to photograph the seven covered bridges for National Geographic. Once there, he asks directions to the home of Francesca Johnson, who at that time is alone at home while her husband and two children are visiting the Illinois State Fair. Thus begins a narrative of a profound love story between Francesa and Robert, an experience which would haunt them forever.

Robert, a roving photographer for National Geographic and Francesca Johnson, a housewife are together for only four days but those four days change their lives forever. Francesca's marriage totally lacks romance. When the two meet, they are instantly attracted. As Waller writes "On that Tuesday evening in August of 1965, Robert Kincaid looked steadily at Francesca Johnson. She looked back in kind. From ten feet apart they were locked in to one another, solidly, intimately and inextricably" (Chapter: Room to Dance Again Page 93. Initially, neither Robert nor Francesca expects their random encounter to lead to seduction, yet their mutual desire is undeniable. They soon become lovers, and Kincaid asks Francesca to run away with him, but she refuses. Francesca stays loyal to her family, and memories of Kincaid are all that remain with her forever.

Francesca invites Robert to have dinner with her. That is their first day together after the initial meeting. By the second day, both are pretty sure that they have fallen completely in love with each other. The depth of Robert's feelings can be gauged from what he says to Francesca: "I am the highway and a peregrine and all the sails that ever went to sea." (Chapter: The Highway and the Peregrine Page 114).