The year is 1991. You are a young man in a small town, finding your way in life. Places like the ice cream shop and theater are the monuments of your youth.
That warm nostalgia is what an author who grew up in Bound Brook and South Bound Brook is hoping to evoke in his upcoming novel about life in those towns on the opposite sides of the Raritan River.
“The Bridge” is a coming-of-age novel set in Bound Brook and South Bound Brook in the summer of 1991. The story follows Sonny Verone, a young man who meets a mysterious girl. Their friendship puts Sonny in the path of a violent and dangerous man, and he is forced to make some difficult choices to get himself out of harm’s way.
Steven Vitiello, the author of “The Bridge” who writes under the pen name Charles Angel, grew up in Bound Brook and South Bound Brook. The book references many real-life locations, such as the Queens Bridge, the Brook Theater and Hi-Tams Ice Cream.
“During my childhood days with my friends, we were on our bikes driving through the streets of South Bound Brook and Bound Brook, and all of those landmarks that I refer to in the book, is where we spent our time,” Vitiello said.
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Vitiello uses his hometown as the novel’s setting to give readers a sense of nostalgia for their coming-of-age days.
“I wanted it to be almost like a love letter to my hometown and to the friends that I grew up with at that time,” Vitiello said. “Even though we all feel that way about our hometowns, I really believe there's something special about that place, about those streets, most of all, about those friends who I spent more time with than anyone else in my life at that age, and who really shaped me into the person I am.”
Vitiello also wants people who have lived in the area to connect with his novel.
“I think, people in the town, whether it's current residents or former residents, what I really hope is that they'll read this and they'll connect with it, and they'll remember some of those locations, some of those streets,” Vitiello said. “They'll remember that feeling of those summers that seem to last forever, the summers the time when everything you could need in the world was within a distance you could drive your bike on a hot summer day.”
The main source of inspiration for the novel was Vitiello’s childhood journal.
“I just wrote about the experiences and time that we spent at these places,” Vitiello said. “Going back and looking through that sparked a lot of memories.”
Vitiello has been working on the novel for more than two years and finished the final draft six months ago.
Vitiello released a novel in 2022 titled “Finding Hazleton,” which centers around the town of Hazleton, Pennsylvania in 1987.
“The Bridge” will be available on Amazon on July 24. Vitiello said he is in the process of setting up a book signing event in August.
“I think people are going to enjoy the nostalgic look back and the feel of it, and I look forward to sharing that,” Vitiello said. “I really hope that it does justice to the memories that people have of the town.”
Email: sdimaggio@mycentraljersey.com
Sal DiMaggio, a rising senior at Montclair State University, is a reporter interning with MyCentralJersey.com.
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