The Bridge
A sweeping novel of family, friendship, love and resistance across two world wars.
Explore →A novel by Deon Jacobs
THE BRIDGE
“War divides countries. Love, loyalty and friendship build the bridges between them.”
A novel of love, loyalty and resistance in a Europe at war.
Discover the BookTwo men. Two countries. One promise that will outlive a war.
In 1918, beneath a bridge near Ypres, an English officer and a French aristocrat save one another’s lives.
The friendship forged there will bind their families together for a generation. Years later, Europe is at war again — and the values born beneath that bridge will be tested in ways neither man could ever have imagined.
The Novel
A story that begins beneath a bridge
1918. Beneath a bridge near Ypres, two young officers — one English, one French — save each other’s lives.
James Ashcombe and Henri de Villeneuve come from different countries and different worlds, but the friendship forged during those desperate hours survives the First World War and draws their families together.
A generation later, Europe is at war again.
James’s son Edward, fluent in French and shaped by the values he inherited from his father, is recruited into clandestine service and sent into occupied France under a false name.
There, living beneath the eyes of the occupying forces, Edward becomes part of a resistance network built from ordinary men and women faced with extraordinary choices. Beside him is Mollie Carter, an East End radio operator carrying courage, determination and reasons of her own for opposing the Gestapo.
Hunting them is Friedrich von Beckstein — disciplined, ruthless and seemingly without weakness.
But war has a way of revealing what people love most.
As loyalties are tested and the distinction between justice and revenge becomes increasingly difficult to see, Edward discovers that defeating an enemy can sometimes demand far more than courage.
The Bridge is a sweeping story of family, friendship, love, resistance and the promises that survive when everything else is destroyed.
The World of The Bridge
History is the backdrop.
People are the story.
Flanders — 1918
The story begins amid the mud, cold and destruction of the final months of the First World War.
Between the Wars
Peace deepens friendship, connects families and allows a new generation to grow.
Occupied France
Villages, cafés, farms and family homes become part of a hidden battlefield.
The Secret War
Coded messages, false identities and clandestine wireless transmissions form another front.
The Resistance
Ordinary people discover that circumstance can force them to decide who they truly are.
The Human Enemy
The novel asks whether understanding what an enemy loves changes how we judge him.
About the Author
A life shaped by books
Deon Jacobs grew up in the small South African town of Roodepoort, in a family that encouraged his love of books from an early age.
The local library quickly became one of the most important places in his childhood.
Even after the family moved further away, Deon would walk there on his own, and during the school holidays he often made the journey every day — returning the book he had finished and choosing another to take home.
He set himself a childhood ambition: to read every book in the children’s section. Eventually, he did. Then he started on the adult shelves.
The librarians came to know him well, pointing out new arrivals and setting aside books they thought he might enjoy. Reading became more than a pastime. It opened worlds, created characters and encouraged an imagination that rarely seemed to switch off.
Before long, Deon was creating stories of his own — not yet on paper, but in his head.
He was something of a dreamer and, at times, a little of a loner. As life moved on he discovered friendship, love, work and family, but the books never disappeared.
Even many years later, a holiday suitcase was often more likely to be filled with novels than clothes.
The beginnings of The Bridge lived in Deon’s imagination for many years. At difficult times, or during sleepless nights, he would return to its characters and their world.
Eventually, Deon realised there came a point when thinking about writing a novel was no longer enough. It was now or never.
The Bridge is his first novel and the beginning of a planned trilogy following the family across generations and through a changing world.
The boy who once walked to the library every day looking for his next story is finally writing his own.
Dedication
For Wendy and Ryan.
My wife, my son, my family — the people who mean the world to me.
Through hardship, pain and difficult times, your love and support have carried me more than you will ever know. Thank you for always being there. I love you both with all my heart.
And to my true friends — Michael, Simon, Rafe, Duncan, Anton, Freddy, Yvonne and Rodney, Ali, Kattie, Bobak and Ali — whose friendship, kindness and loyalty have made the difficult days easier and the good days better.
And to Elias, whose support and encouragement throughout the writing of this book have meant more to me than words can say.
In loving memory of Duncan and Lionel.
With all my love and gratitude, this book is dedicated to you.
Contact
Get in touch
For literary representation, publishing enquiries and professional correspondence concerning The Bridge, please get in touch.
Copyright & Legal
Copyright © 2026 Deon Jacobs. All rights reserved.
The Bridge and all original text presented on this website are copyright Deon Jacobs.
No part of this website or the manuscript The Bridge may be reproduced, stored, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the copyright holder, except for brief quotations used in reviews, criticism or other uses permitted by law.
The author asserts the right to be identified as the author of this work.
No part of this work may be used to train, develop or improve generative artificial-intelligence or machine-learning systems without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.
The Bridge is a work of fiction. Except for historical figures and events used as part of the setting, the characters, organisations, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.