A vivid depiction of the suffering history has imposed upon the people of Bosnia from the late 16th century to the beginning of World War I.

A great stone bridge built three centuries ago in the heart of the Balkans by a Grand Vezir of the Ottoman Empire dominates the setting of the novel. Spanning generations, nationalities, and creeds, the bridge stands witness to the countless lives played out upon it: to Radislav, the workman who tries to hinder its construction and is impaled alive on its highest point; to lovely Fata, who throws herself from its parapet to escape a loveless marriage; to Milan, the gambler, who risks everything for one last game on the bridge with the devil his opponent; to Fedun, the young soldier who pays for a moment’s spring forgetfulness with his life. War finally destroys the span, and with it the last descendant of that family to which the Grand Vezir confided the care of his pious bequest—the bridge.