The Eternal Mrs. Bridge

Evan Connell died Thursday.  The stifled protagonist depicted in Connell's incisive 1958 novel Mrs. Bridge lives on.  Mrs. Bridge glares at my unkempt hair as I shop for groceries.  She sneers at my rustbucket from her hermetically sealed Lincoln.  After church, Mrs. Bridge asks me if I left my tie in the car.  The worst part?   Mrs. Bridge's disapproval actually stings me.