I Am a Brave Bridge (audiobook)

I Am a Brave Bridge recounts the Hinlicky family’s move to Svätý Jur, the first town out from Bratislava, in the signal year of 1993 when Slovakia became independent for the first time in its whole long history. While her parents made the move out of a serious commitment to rebuilding the Lutheran church after the recent fall of communism, Sarah had other plans in mind.

Her hope was that, after a childhood of feeling vaguely out of place no matter where she went, she’d find her true home in her ancestral land of Slovakia. And sure enough, she fell in love with the place straight away. But that love was greatly enhanced by discovering the added wonders of Slovak boys… who were just as enchanted with the new Američanka as she was with them. Linguistic and cultural barriers, however, guaranteed that the course of Sarah’s romance(s) would run anything but smooth.

I Am a Brave Bridge exults in the sheer absurdity of cross-cultural adolescent infatuation, but also digs deeply into Slovak history, linguistics, politics, and religion. Meditating on perfective verbs and Marxist architecture, central European feminism and American romanticism, finding one’s vocation and the perils of nationalism, I Am a Brave Bridge at long last gives the English-speaking world a portrait of Slovakia to enchant and delight.

Move over, Provence. Here comes Slovakia!

This memoir is narrated by the author.

You can play the mp3 files directly on your computer to listen. If you’d rather listen on a smartphone, you’ll need an app. For iPhone users, I suggest the BookPlayer app. For Android users, I suggest either the Smart AudioBook Player or Listen Audiobook Player app. You can use Bluetooth to share the files directly from your computer to your phone.