Alexander's Bridge

Willa Cather's first novel is a taut tragedy of a divided life. Bartley Alexander, the most celebrated bridge-builder of his day, is settled into a good Boston marriage when a first love, rediscovered in London, splits him in two — even as his firm is pressed to raise a great cantilever span over the St. Lawrence more cheaply than it can safely be built. Cather later half-disowned the book, but it...