The Crossing

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

'ANDREW MILLER'S WRITING IS A SOURCE OF WONDER AND DELIGHT' Hilary Mantel

'ONE OF OUR MOST SKILFUL CHRONICLERS OF THE HUMAN HEART AND MIND' Sunday Times

'Enthralling'
Financial Times

'Remarkable'
Guardian

'Hypnotic'
Mail on Sunday

An extraordinary portrait of modern love and motherhood, the lure of the sea and the unknowability of others, from the critically acclaimed author of Pure

Who else has entered Tim's life the way Maud did? This young woman who fell past him, lay seemingly dead on the ground, then stood and walked. That was where it all began.

As magnetic as she is inscrutable, Maud defies expectations and evades explanation - a daughter, girlfriend and mother who, in the wake of a tragedy, embarks on a dangerous voyage across the Atlantic, not knowing where it will lead . . .


PRAISE FOR ANDREW MILLER

'Unique, visionary, a master at unmasking humanity'
Sarah Hall

'A writer of very rare and outstanding gifts'
Independent on Sunday

'A highly intelligent writer, both exciting and contemplative'
The Times

'A wonderful storyteller'
Spectator

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Sailing is the bond that connects the spectacularly mismatched pair of Tim Rathbone and Maud Stamp. With his family wealth, Tim is a dreamy dilettante who dabbles in music. Maud, the only child of two remote schoolteachers, is a practical, unsentimental scientist whose sole note of whimsy is a tattoo on her arm reading, "Sauve qui peut" (Every man for himself). Their early years together are spent companionably purchasing, then outfitting and sailing, an old yacht. When their daughter comes along, however, Maud, absorbed in her work as a medical researcher and showing little interest in child care, is content to leave Tim with the parenting responsibilities. Then tragedy strikes and the couple's tenuous bond snaps. When Tim moves back with his parents, Maud becomes unmoored. Given leave from work, she sets sail on a solo sea voyage that tests her stores of bravery and ingenuity. Verdict What starts off as a bittersweet love story turns into Castaway in a novel of ineffable sadness, dramatic misadventure, and exceptionally fine storytelling. Highly recommended.-Barbara Love, formerly with Kingston Frontenac P.L., Ont. © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Is Maud incredibly fragile or remarkably strong? The question posed early in this profound novel captures her intriguing and sometimes unsettling nature. After she plunges from the deck of a boat onto concrete, a well-off young man named Tim takes care of her and begins to find he is falling in love with her. But when their young family is destroyed by tragedy, it is Maud who is left to take care of herself. Miller weaves the speculations of those who know her around Maud, creating the effect of a corridor of mirrors where each reflection shows a different angle. Her boss considers the idea that she might be on the autism spectrum; Tim's father considers her cruel; a boat yard worker worries about her. As she sets off alone on a boat voyage across the Atlantic, it seems Maud herself is uncertain about who she is. But the trials of her crossing reveal much of her character, in Miller's exquisitely paced and deliberate style. Mysterious and meditative, this novel notably displays one woman's resilience.--Thoreson, Bridget Copyright 2016 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

The fantastic voyage of a haunted woman.In the opening scene of Millers (Pure, 2012, etc.) graceful, absorbing novel, Maud Stamp and Tim Rathbone, members of their universitys sailing club, are at work repairing a boat when suddenly Maud falls 20 feet onto rubbled brick and, although at first she appears dead, opens her eyes, gets up, and walks 15 steps before collapsing. Timtall, blue-eyed, patricianshocked that she is alive, rushes her to a hospital and, in short order, becomes her lover. He's fascinated by this self-possessed woman who lives in Spartan rooms, who does not do banter, who (like Millers protagonist in 1997's Ingenious Pain) seems not to suffer, or even to feel, pain, and who has on her forearm a tattoo, Sauve Qui Peut: every man for himself. The lovers seem complete opposites: after earning a degree in biology, Maud takes a position at a pharmaceutical company, assigned, ironically, to oversee trials of a powerful painkiller. Tim, born into wealth and privilegeMiller delightedly skewers his familys pretensions and hypocrisiesoccupies himself by playing one of his precious collectible guitars; after their daughter is born, he happily becomes a stay-at-home dad. But Tim feels increasingly frustrated with Mauds coldness, her apparent distance from him and their child. Who is this woman, he wonders, who entered his life with the force of myth? Maud is, indeed, a cipher: is she a stereotypical scientist, focused on chemical rather than human interactions? Does she have Aspergers? Or is she hiding some deep, unspeakable grief, a more likely possibility that emerges in the second half of the novel, when she flees from a devastating tragedy to sail across the Atlantic, alone. In palpable detail, Miller depicts Mauds immersion in a watery, ravaging world, at once alien and threatening. There is something Shakespearean in her journey: in her battle against natures wrath; the dreamlike settlement, inhabited by children, where she washes ashore; and her overwhelming desire to confront the unbearable. In pristine, elegant prose, Miller creates an indelible portrait of a mysterious woman and her tragic quest. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.