Westgate Bridge: Chapter Summary

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Antonello is a 22 year old Italian migrant, newly married and in love, he and his wife Paolina are looking forward to building together. The novel opens with Antonello sitting on the banks of the Yarra River sketching the half-made Westgate Bridge. His mother wanted him to be an artist; she told him, ‘artists live forever’. However, like his father Antonello believes it is a man’s responsibility to work and support his family, and so when he leaves school he takes a job as an apprentice rigger. In 1968, he is employed to work on the Westgate Bridge, he is excited, he believes that the bridge will be more spectacular than the Sydney Harbour Bridge, that it is going to bring the city together and that he and the other bridge builders, will be remembered for years to come. For the first time since he arrived in Australia, he feels like the possibility of belonging. …show more content…

It is the first time they have seen each other since Ashleigh’s death. Antonello is torn between anger and pity. Jo is terrified but by the time she notices him she can’t run away. So they talk. They talk about Ashleigh and the accident and about guilt and grief and Jo tells Antonello she has Ashleigh’s diaries. She tells him Ashleigh hid them so her parents would not read them, and she doesn’t know what to do with them. Antonello convinces her the diaries belong to Ashleigh’s parents. Once the diaries are gone, Jo stops hearing Ashleigh’s voice in her head. Both Ashleigh’s family and Jo’s family have dreaded and yet longed for the court case. It is harrowing. Ashleigh’s family realises even if Jo is sent to prison it will not reduce their pain or their loss. They see the girl she is, they see their daughter’s best friend and while they want her punished they also feel sorry for her. Jo is sentenced and sent to prison. She accepts that the only path to redemption for her is to face the consequences of her

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