Lost River Bridge — The Complete Story includes Parts 1, 2, 3 & 4
A story of split personality, not of the dissociative Jekyll and Hyde sort, but rather of the real and the imaginary, told by one, written by the other. The storytelling world of Elijah Taber enhances the lifetime experiences of the author. Everyone in Lost River Bridge has a story to tell. “Yes,” they say, “seen it with my own eyes,” even if the event happened years before they were born. The tall tales and true, will sometimes make you laugh, and perhaps even cry. Rating: G - all age groups.
The first edition (2001) consisted of two Parts:
Part One: Elijah Taber returns home from WW II in 1946, seeking release from the horrors and nightmares of front line action in Europe with the Canadian Infantry. He travels to the Ozark Mountains of Missouri to meet his American relatives for the first time, finding a shy, retiring clan whose main occupation appears to be storytelling and extra sensory perception. Thinking he might visit for a couple of weeks, he is drawn into the community, staying for the entire summer, returning to Canada, rejuvenated and ready to get on with his life.
Part Two: Elijah returns forty-two years later to find a disintegrating community. Retired from his business career as an industrial construction manager, he melds into the community, becoming an endeared person, involving himself in the natives lives, sometimes against their wills. On the death of his cousin, Emery Taber, he elects to make Lost River Bridge the place of his permanent retirement.
The second edition (2012) adds Parts 3 and 4 to the first two parts:
Part Three: In a rapidly diminishing population, Elijah finds hope in the arrival of two young people, one a wealthy divorcee, the other a dishonorably discharged GI on a mission to deliver a message to the parents of a soldier who saved his father’s live in Viet Nam. Although from two vastly different worlds, the young couple fall in love and marry, but fail to return after a honeymoon in California. Meanwhile, the last of Elijah’s cousins dies, leaving Elijah the only living soul in Lost River Bridge.
Part Four: Realizing, he cannot live alone in the forest, he faces the reality he must reluctantly move on. Before his departure, through an extraordinary chain of circumstances, he solves the murder of a child that took place many years earlier. The young couple return vowing to reincarnate the community with new life, imploring Elijah to be their leader. He declines, but charges them with the responsibility of keeping the Legend of Lost River Bridge alive forever.
Reviews: (RE: First Edition)
“Stephen Byers does a fantastic job of connecting the diverse characters with a common thread of human emotion. The characters are so real, their plights believable. In a world of diversity, it is refreshing to have a work that reminds the reader of the commonalities between people of all walks of life.” Lisa Rene Reynolds, psychotherapist, author.
“Against the backdrop of a rustic Ozark community, Stephen P. Byers paints a humorous and poignant story of a war-traumatized young veteran seeking solace among his mountain kinfolk. With tall tales, family legends and the unraveling of a centuries-old mystery, Elijah Taber's heartfelt narrative exposes the reader to a sense of family and way of life largely forgotten by mainstream America.” Michael Helms, editor, Karmichael Press.
“Lost River Bridge is a charming series of Ozark tales tied together by an engaging family exploration. The book skillfully captures the Missouri mountains’ community idiom. Real and painstakingly painted, the characters coax you into their world and personal lives. Stephen P. Byers is unquestionably a storyteller extraordinaire. This book is a gem.” Signe A. Dayhoff, Ph.D., psychologist and author of “Diagonally-Parked in a Parallel Universe: Working Through Social Anxiety.”
