Marcie Bowers describes Anna’s Bridge as “one of those creaky old truss bridges that always remind me of a carnival ride” (6). The depiction emphasizes the structural fragility of the bridge, which plays a role in the novel’s events. It also draws attention to the bridge’s connection to Hemingway Grove’s history as it is “named for Anna Hemingway, the daughter of the fur trader who founded this town” (341).

The location of key events in the novel, Anna’s Bridge is also a recurring motif illustrating the inextricable link between the past and the present. David takes Marcie to a riverside spot with a view of the bridge to reminisce about how they first met there. The bridge then becomes the site of the narrative’s inciting incident when the driver of an SUV has an epileptic seizure, crashes through the guardrail, and plummets into the Cotton River. David’s heroic actions, which save the driver’s life, instigate a chain of events that expose the past he believed he had left behind. The repercussions of history are highlighted when Silas Renfrow later disposes of the gun with which he fatally injured David on Anna’s Bridge.

At the novel’s climax, Marcie chooses to confront Agent Blair and Silas on Anna’s Bridge.