Mornings Under Lake Street Bridge

David Johnson
Available for acquisition
Author contact: mtncanyon@msn.com

First Chapter: davidjohnsonblog.blogspot.com

Publishers and agents should contact authors directly for additional information about their work.

When someone meets Todd Hummel, eventually they will end up calling him Odd Todd. Todd begins the book recovering from a near-death experience in a local Minneapolis café. A gifted athlete but novice rower, Todd almost got sucked into a turbine while rowing on the Mississippi River. Todd is immediately attracted to his waitress, Nancy. He tells her about the relationship he has with his boat, a scull named the Anne Grahame. Unlike many people, who are left uncomfortable by Todd, Nancy enjoys talking to him.

When he discovers later that he has left his hat behind, Todd returns to the café as it is closing. He strikes up a conversation with Nancy again, and offers to help her clear up for the day. His kindness to a homeless man who knocks on the café door endears him to Nancy, though she pretends to be irritated. They almost immediately begin a physical relationship.

Todd lives with several roommates, whom he avoids, and works in a mailroom. This is quite a change from his previous life back in Denver, where he had a fiancée and a job befitting of his MBA. How he descended from envied to pitied is unraveled throughout the book’s course. The recent death of his father may play a role, but Todd’s difficulties in keeping afloat seem inevitable.

The title refers to Todd’s regular rowing routine. Todd continues to show up at the boathouse each morning despite teasing from the other rowers. Like his previous sports, swimming and cycling, Todd feels he needs constant physical activity to keep himself from cracking up. Only one man, Alan, understands this need. Alan shares the sadness that clings to Todd.

Nancy and Todd’s relationship progresses very quickly, even as Todd recognizes that Nancy, far less educated than he is, drinks too much. After a climatic meal with his widowed mother, Todd understands he has to let her go. Nancy does not take his decision quietly.

Mornings Under Lake Street Bridge is 242 pages, leaning towards a novella. The style is deceptively simple—the vocabulary and sentence structure are easy to read, yet there is an undercurrent of complicated sadness through the story. Johnson demonstrates Todd’s relationship to his own oddness well. Todd can recognize when he has said something unusual, yet cannot always stop himself in time. The plot is streamlined; each scene carries weight. It is a quick read that lingers long afterwards. Readers may find similarities to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.