59 Glass Bridges

In *59 Glass Bridges*, an unnamed narrator travels through a maze that is at once mutable and immutable: walls fall to vine-filled forests, hallways to rivers, bridges to lamp-lit boats. What remains is the desire to escape. He is led along his harrowing path by Willow, a mysterious figure who cajoles him and responds to questions in a winking sphinx-like manner, with answers that are often more baffling than clear. Interspersed are the memories of the narrator, of his childhood and adolescence, and of his grandmother, a wise artist who at once pushes his creativity, while leaving him the freedom to craft his own journey.

Playing with the imagery and landscapes of Dante Alighieri's *Divine Comedy* and Italo Calvino's *Invisible Cities*, Steven Peters' debut reveals how pivotal moments in our lives give substance and shape to the labyrinths in our minds.