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Crossing Over
Summary
Edie is struggling. She's increasingly confused, but she can't let the women in the village find that out - they'd only talk. But she's forgetting so much - forgetting to wear matching clothes, forgetting to bake one of her walnut cakes for the WI sale...and forgetting to lock the door...until one day she wakes to find Jonah in her house and herself in her past.
Jonah is struggling. The journey to England was illegal and dangerous, and he's the only one who survived - and he still hasn't made it to London. Everything will be fine if he can just get to London. But can he leave Edie to look after herself? And can he hide from the authorities? And from his past?
About the audiobook
Ann Morgan has written an affecting and absorbing tale of an elderly woman losing herself to dementia and an illegal immigrant suffering from PTSD who has found England is not the utopia he was promised. The relationship between the two is touching yet mutually suspicious and uneasy; both are scared, moreover, of the outside world - Edie is worried she'll be put in a home, and Jonah is worried he will be deported. Neither can cope on their own - but can they rely on each other when they can't trust anyone else?
About the author
Ann Morgan's writing has appeared in the Guardian, the Independent, the Financial Times and the New Internationalist. Her first book, Reading the Confessions of a Literary Explorer (Harvill Secker/WW Norton), was published following the success of her project to read a book from every country throughout 2012. Her best-selling debut novel, Beside Myself (Bloomsbury), was released to great acclaim in 2016.
Edie is struggling. She's increasingly confused, but she can't let the women in the village find that out - they'd only talk. But she's forgetting so much - forgetting to wear matching clothes, forgetting to bake one of her walnut cakes for the WI sale...and forgetting to lock the door...until one day she wakes to find Jonah in her house and herself in her past.
Jonah is struggling. The journey to England was illegal and dangerous, and he's the only one who survived - and he still hasn't made it to London. Everything will be fine if he can just get to London. But can he leave Edie to look after herself? And can he hide from the authorities? And from his past?
About the audiobook
Ann Morgan has written an affecting and absorbing tale of an elderly woman losing herself to dementia and an illegal immigrant suffering from PTSD who has found England is not the utopia he was promised. The relationship between the two is touching yet mutually suspicious and uneasy; both are scared, moreover, of the outside world - Edie is worried she'll be put in a home, and Jonah is worried he will be deported. Neither can cope on their own - but can they rely on each other when they can't trust anyone else?
About the author
Ann Morgan's writing has appeared in the Guardian, the Independent, the Financial Times and the New Internationalist. Her first book, Reading the Confessions of a Literary Explorer (Harvill Secker/WW Norton), was published following the success of her project to read a book from every country throughout 2012. Her best-selling debut novel, Beside Myself (Bloomsbury), was released to great acclaim in 2016.
Audio CD
Published July 2, 2019
6 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Ann Morgan
24 books9 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
April 29, 2019
It was the kind of book I forgot the standstill traffic, and was rather displeased when I arrived at work. Knew I needed to finish in a weekend.
Working with populations that contain immigrants and people who live at various stages of dementia, I found Ann’s writing engaging, relatable, and poignant.
Working with populations that contain immigrants and people who live at various stages of dementia, I found Ann’s writing engaging, relatable, and poignant.
October 13, 2019
I read this on Audible and the narration was brilliant! There was nothing wrong with the book in principle and parts of it were very readable but it just wasn’t for me. I’m sure other people will love it. It deals with some very tough subjects.
September 20, 2023
"Often compassion consits in meeting someone in their reality rather then insisting on dragging them into yours"
Wow!! Can I give it at least six stars? How can I explain this wonderful book...
How it made me feel this compassionate, sad, heart wrenching, hopeful, sweet, insightful story.
An illegal immigrant meets an elderly woman with dementia.. and they both get so much from this unplanned encounter, crossing over to each other's lives. This is simplistic, but everything else is about feelings.. so intimate and engaging.
I have to admit in the beginning I was struggling with the audio format, because imagine being inside the head of a person that's starting to lose her mind to old age, or an immigrant struggling with the english language and big trauma... but I knew I will come to appreciate it, and I did. So mind opening and thoght provoking. Cannot recommend it enough, not an easy book but totally worth it.
Wow!! Can I give it at least six stars? How can I explain this wonderful book...
How it made me feel this compassionate, sad, heart wrenching, hopeful, sweet, insightful story.
An illegal immigrant meets an elderly woman with dementia.. and they both get so much from this unplanned encounter, crossing over to each other's lives. This is simplistic, but everything else is about feelings.. so intimate and engaging.
I have to admit in the beginning I was struggling with the audio format, because imagine being inside the head of a person that's starting to lose her mind to old age, or an immigrant struggling with the english language and big trauma... but I knew I will come to appreciate it, and I did. So mind opening and thoght provoking. Cannot recommend it enough, not an easy book but totally worth it.
October 21, 2025
I realise I had different expectations for this novel, largely because I've read 3 books that deal with what I thought this was about, the crossings of the channels by people fleeing difficulties and danger elsewhere. like Butterfly, Choirs if Silence and My Fourth Time We Drowned.
This novel doesn't really touch at all on the experience of the crossing, it's more of the experience of the landing of a young man who takes refuge in a barn and pushovers he's walked into the home of an elderly woman in the throes of dementia, who remembers another man who landed in their barn in the 1940s.
Before Jonah arrives, we meet the so called friends of Edith or ET as Jonah refers to her, and it's a rather narrow minded, claustrophobic group of women looking to interfere, so Jonah arrival and mistaken identity as her carer provides a temporary respite of sorts.
This novel doesn't really touch at all on the experience of the crossing, it's more of the experience of the landing of a young man who takes refuge in a barn and pushovers he's walked into the home of an elderly woman in the throes of dementia, who remembers another man who landed in their barn in the 1940s.
Before Jonah arrives, we meet the so called friends of Edith or ET as Jonah refers to her, and it's a rather narrow minded, claustrophobic group of women looking to interfere, so Jonah arrival and mistaken identity as her carer provides a temporary respite of sorts.
April 25, 2023
Edie and Jonah’s lives are about to collide.
Crossing Over was a complete surprise. I was rather expecting an easy read portraying the relationship between two unlikely companions, but instead what I got was an intelligent, thoughtful, profound and affecting multi-layered narrative that ought to be compulsory reading for every politician because it illustrates to perfection the lives of two people for whom convention and rules are unworkable and inappropriate. I thought Crossing Over was incredibly powerful. It’s descriptive, moving and beautifully written with a Dylan Thomas type of intensity in its language and a Shakespearean pathos that I found intriguing, mesmerising and far more emotional than I’d anticipated.
There’s deep emotion and occasional dark humour mixed with uncomfortable themes of PTSD and dementia, refugee lives and family relationships, racism, war and corruption as well as small community dynamics so that Ann Morgan portrays life in all its nuances in Crossing Over. This is a book that makes the reader think and to ponder it long after the final page is read.
I loved the way the chapter headings are random and confusing, just like the eddying memories and experiences swirling in both Edie and Jonah’s minds. I thought this was an inspired aspect of the text and the manner with which the two main characters’ stories blend and cross over is skilfully wrought so that echoes between their lives feel natural as well as surprising and entertaining.
Both characters are richly depicted because Ann Morgan gets right inside their minds, presenting their innermost thoughts with all their flaws, feelings and obsessions with a kind of brutal tenderness that feels astonishing. Through their past lives we come to understand their present selves to perfection.
The plot of Crossing Over appears deceptively simple in that two people find themselves sharing the same house, but that belies the sensitive and layered way Ann Morgan illustrates how we become who we become. She shines a spotlight on the way our past affects us and how the expectations about us from other people, including their prejudices and mis-judgements, are often facets of life we simply can’t escape.
Crossing Over is a beautiful, sometimes stark, and disturbingly realistic exploration of otherness and similarity that blends two disparate cultures into one simple humanity in an affecting, sobering and compelling narrative. I thought it was an incredibly pertinent and sobering tale that deserves a wide audience.
Crossing Over was a complete surprise. I was rather expecting an easy read portraying the relationship between two unlikely companions, but instead what I got was an intelligent, thoughtful, profound and affecting multi-layered narrative that ought to be compulsory reading for every politician because it illustrates to perfection the lives of two people for whom convention and rules are unworkable and inappropriate. I thought Crossing Over was incredibly powerful. It’s descriptive, moving and beautifully written with a Dylan Thomas type of intensity in its language and a Shakespearean pathos that I found intriguing, mesmerising and far more emotional than I’d anticipated.
There’s deep emotion and occasional dark humour mixed with uncomfortable themes of PTSD and dementia, refugee lives and family relationships, racism, war and corruption as well as small community dynamics so that Ann Morgan portrays life in all its nuances in Crossing Over. This is a book that makes the reader think and to ponder it long after the final page is read.
I loved the way the chapter headings are random and confusing, just like the eddying memories and experiences swirling in both Edie and Jonah’s minds. I thought this was an inspired aspect of the text and the manner with which the two main characters’ stories blend and cross over is skilfully wrought so that echoes between their lives feel natural as well as surprising and entertaining.
Both characters are richly depicted because Ann Morgan gets right inside their minds, presenting their innermost thoughts with all their flaws, feelings and obsessions with a kind of brutal tenderness that feels astonishing. Through their past lives we come to understand their present selves to perfection.
The plot of Crossing Over appears deceptively simple in that two people find themselves sharing the same house, but that belies the sensitive and layered way Ann Morgan illustrates how we become who we become. She shines a spotlight on the way our past affects us and how the expectations about us from other people, including their prejudices and mis-judgements, are often facets of life we simply can’t escape.
Crossing Over is a beautiful, sometimes stark, and disturbingly realistic exploration of otherness and similarity that blends two disparate cultures into one simple humanity in an affecting, sobering and compelling narrative. I thought it was an incredibly pertinent and sobering tale that deserves a wide audience.
August 29, 2019
Edie is 87 and, suffering from dementia, she thinks she's back in wartime; Jonah is a traumatised but illegal immigrant from Malawi who's trying to evade the authorities. An unlikely alliance develops between the two as they try to remain free. Written in two very different voices it tells of their very different struggles and sometimes it really strikes a chord but it feels a bit disjointed and I never felt totally on their side despite trying very hard.
September 7, 2019
I found this book strangely engrossing. I say strangely because all the way through something didn’t sit quite right with me. I understand what the author was trying to do, drawing parallels between the confusion and isolation felt by dementia patients and displaced immigrants suffering from PTSD. But I don’t think it wholly worked. Her writing is good but not good enough to achieve what she wanted. The end felt rather hurried as well. 3.5 stars rather than 3.
April 20, 2023
Edie lives alone in an old farmhouse on the clifftops, and now in her eighties is starting to lose her grip on the world around her. Words do not come easily to her anymore, and she is often confused, but she is determined to hide her deteriorating faculties from the do-gooders in the village.
Jonah has made the long and perilous journey from Malawi to Britain, looking for a better life for himself and his family. Not all of the people he has met along the way have survived, and he is haunted by the things he has seen. Having completed the final terrifying stretch of the journey across the Channel in a small boat, his goal is to head for London where he can get lost in the crowds. In the meantime, he finds refuge hiding in Edie's ramshackle barn.
When Edie comes across Jonah unexpectedly, she is thrown back into her past, confusing him for someone who was once very dear to her. Jonah, terrified he will be captured, and dogged by PTSD reacts violently at first, but over time they fall into an unconventional relationship with Jonah taking on the role of Edie's carer. Both of them are afraid of the outside world, and are plagued by their past experiences, and somehow they forge a connection.
Crossing Over is a deeply affecting story about the collision of two very different lives, when a desperate young man from Africa finds himself living with a confused and reclusive old woman. Morgan has written this story with the intention of confronting people's notions about the differences between refugees and economic migrants, and she does an excellent of job of exploring how difficult it is to draw a line between the two when the experiences of people distressed by poverty can be very similar to those who have suffered the fall-out of war.
Throughout the story Joshua expresses his bewilderment at the things people in this unfamiliar country take for granted, and recalls incidents from his past to illustrate the stark differences between the life he has left behind and the place he now finds himself. There is such poignancy and pain in his narration, but there are also darkly funny moments, especially when his illusions about Britain are burst by the reality he sees around him.
In parallel, Morgan does an astounding job of portraying the fear and confusion of a woman succumbing to the ravages of dementia, especially in the way Edie gets lost in the past and struggles with aphasia. It is Edie's side of the story where the biggest secrets lie, and the truth about why she is so taken with Joshua is revealed slowly over the course of the novel - through bits and pieces of her scattered memories, the heart-rending jottings Joshua discovers in her notebooks, and from letters she has received but not read.
The two threads of the story weave around each other as Morgan teases out experiences on both sides, and for the most part this flows well, although Joshua's story is clearly the dominant one given Morgan's intent. However, there are times when it feels like she is attempting too much with Edie's story in pursuit of common ground, and this distracts from the message of the book. I enjoyed the look back in time to Edie's wartime experiences, but parts of this storyline feel out of place with the overall themes, and the sexual awakening element of the tale is handled somewhat clumsily given the deft way in which the more impactful plotlines are wielded.
Nonetheless, this is a book that is intended to elicit an emotional response straight out of the gate, and it does that in gut-punching style. It is not a warm, fuzzy read about a cosy relationship between an elderly woman and her carer, although there are moments of wry humour and touching compassion. There are multiple episodes that are distressing to read on both sides of the story, and I especially struggled with several of the scenes where Joshua acts with cruelty towards Edie, even though they develop an understanding over the course of the story. I would advise caution if you are navigating caring for a loved one with dementia or a degenerative condition, or if your feelings in this regard are raw, as these scenes are extremely upsetting.
There is no doubt that this is a powerful book, and there is a lot to talk about in terms of the themes Morgan forces you to examine around humanity, immigration, prejudice, and racism, as well as in connection with the care of those with dementia. This novel is unashamedly thought provoking, which makes it an ideal candidate for book clubs and reading groups who are open to having their boundaries pushed.
Jonah has made the long and perilous journey from Malawi to Britain, looking for a better life for himself and his family. Not all of the people he has met along the way have survived, and he is haunted by the things he has seen. Having completed the final terrifying stretch of the journey across the Channel in a small boat, his goal is to head for London where he can get lost in the crowds. In the meantime, he finds refuge hiding in Edie's ramshackle barn.
When Edie comes across Jonah unexpectedly, she is thrown back into her past, confusing him for someone who was once very dear to her. Jonah, terrified he will be captured, and dogged by PTSD reacts violently at first, but over time they fall into an unconventional relationship with Jonah taking on the role of Edie's carer. Both of them are afraid of the outside world, and are plagued by their past experiences, and somehow they forge a connection.
Crossing Over is a deeply affecting story about the collision of two very different lives, when a desperate young man from Africa finds himself living with a confused and reclusive old woman. Morgan has written this story with the intention of confronting people's notions about the differences between refugees and economic migrants, and she does an excellent of job of exploring how difficult it is to draw a line between the two when the experiences of people distressed by poverty can be very similar to those who have suffered the fall-out of war.
Throughout the story Joshua expresses his bewilderment at the things people in this unfamiliar country take for granted, and recalls incidents from his past to illustrate the stark differences between the life he has left behind and the place he now finds himself. There is such poignancy and pain in his narration, but there are also darkly funny moments, especially when his illusions about Britain are burst by the reality he sees around him.
In parallel, Morgan does an astounding job of portraying the fear and confusion of a woman succumbing to the ravages of dementia, especially in the way Edie gets lost in the past and struggles with aphasia. It is Edie's side of the story where the biggest secrets lie, and the truth about why she is so taken with Joshua is revealed slowly over the course of the novel - through bits and pieces of her scattered memories, the heart-rending jottings Joshua discovers in her notebooks, and from letters she has received but not read.
The two threads of the story weave around each other as Morgan teases out experiences on both sides, and for the most part this flows well, although Joshua's story is clearly the dominant one given Morgan's intent. However, there are times when it feels like she is attempting too much with Edie's story in pursuit of common ground, and this distracts from the message of the book. I enjoyed the look back in time to Edie's wartime experiences, but parts of this storyline feel out of place with the overall themes, and the sexual awakening element of the tale is handled somewhat clumsily given the deft way in which the more impactful plotlines are wielded.
Nonetheless, this is a book that is intended to elicit an emotional response straight out of the gate, and it does that in gut-punching style. It is not a warm, fuzzy read about a cosy relationship between an elderly woman and her carer, although there are moments of wry humour and touching compassion. There are multiple episodes that are distressing to read on both sides of the story, and I especially struggled with several of the scenes where Joshua acts with cruelty towards Edie, even though they develop an understanding over the course of the story. I would advise caution if you are navigating caring for a loved one with dementia or a degenerative condition, or if your feelings in this regard are raw, as these scenes are extremely upsetting.
There is no doubt that this is a powerful book, and there is a lot to talk about in terms of the themes Morgan forces you to examine around humanity, immigration, prejudice, and racism, as well as in connection with the care of those with dementia. This novel is unashamedly thought provoking, which makes it an ideal candidate for book clubs and reading groups who are open to having their boundaries pushed.
April 18, 2023
𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗘 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗗𝗜𝗗𝗡'𝗧 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗜𝗧
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Today is my stop on the blogtour for 𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 by Ann Morgan. Thank you to Will Dady at Renard Press for having me along, and for sending me a copy of this very special book.
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'𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁,' 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴. '𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗺𝘀𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀.
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Crossing Over tells the stories of Edith, an elderly lady with Dementia, and Jonah, an illegal immigrant from Malawi.
Their paths cross, and become intertwined in extraordinary ways. There are so many parallels in their lives, memories and experiences, and Morgan has written an incredibly clever and emotive story.
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𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲. 𝗔𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 ����𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘇𝗲. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲, 𝗮 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗮 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗯 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝘁. 𝗔𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗶𝗻: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗱𝗵𝗽𝘂𝗿𝘀, 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗶𝘁.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆, 𝘂𝗻𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘄. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲.
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The reader recognises very quickly that Edith is not well, and that she isn't fully rooted in the present. Initially the indications that something may be amiss are subtle, with Edith noticing the barn door being open but immediately forgetting again, several times, over several days.
Like many readers, I have witnessed severe dementia in some of my own family members, and I found the portrayal of Edith's decline to be very realistic. The obvious confusion, difficulty maintaining a conversation, and speaking in generalities is real and true.
Morgan's ambitious depiction of this experience from Edith's own perspective was well-executed, and so heartbreaking.
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𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱, 𝗳𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆.
'𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄,' 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀.
𝗛𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿. '𝗜𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀.'
𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳.
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Jonah has been through hell in his efforts to travel to the UK, and is understandably suffering from PTSD as a result.
His flashbacks and confusion, and inability to stay fully rooted in the present moment, perfectly parallel Edith's experience with her dementia.
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I just want to add a note that when I was introduced to Jonah I was a little skeptical of his voice, and of the language used, because of the fact that this is not an 'own voices' novel.
However, it is clear in the author's note and acknowledgements that Morgan has conducted significant research, and utilised many beta and sensitivity readers to shape Jonah's voice. While he is a fictionalised character, his experiences and journey are rooted in truth.
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𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 - 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝘆-𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗴𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘀 - 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗱-𝘄𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀, 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁. 𝗔𝗹𝘀𝗼, 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘁. 𝗦𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 - 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲? - 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿. 𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀. 𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵.
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One parallel that Morgan has employed perfectly in Crossing Over is the way that the English language is full of traps, tricks and pitfalls.
Edith and Jonah are both trying to make sense of a language that should feel familiar, but that eludes them and feels as though it sometimes makes a mockery of them. Both get stuck in cyclical thoughts, and experience communication as a test of sorts.
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𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹. 𝗛𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻, 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲'𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲.
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And as Edith deteriorates, Morgan deploys a fantastic unravelling of language, that perfectly reflects her untethered state.
As a reader, I could perfectly understand what Edith was thinking, and what she was trying to say, even though she jumbled some words and they weren't always in the right order.
Morgan's depiction of this decline was incredibly clever, and wonderfully depicted; it almost has a poetic quality to it, and forces the reader to interpret and read between the lines.
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𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗽 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀.
𝗬𝗲𝘀. 𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀... 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗺. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴... 𝘀𝗻𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱. 𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿. 𝗢𝗵 𝘆𝗲𝘀. 𝗛𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿.
𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗺, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗲, 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹
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There were small moments amongst the brain fog that made me feel so much empathy for both Edith and Jonah.
Neither have lived an easy life, and I'm not going to spoil the story by fully revealing why, but the details that Morgan employed (including war, boats, grief and loss, and family) were fantastic.
There are some key themes in particular within the story, including religion and faith, that particularly stood out to me.
Morgan includes commentary on spiritual faith, and a belief in a God that doesn't seem to care a great deal about his followers, yet expects them to be subservient. By extension, there are reflections on the community that uphold such spiritual/religious beliefs, yet don't seem to actually care about one another or genuinely take care of one another when they need it most.
This is reflected in Jonah's community before he leaves for England, in Edith's community in how it's easier for them to turn a blind eye to the extent of her decline, and in how the community treat Jonah once they realise he is not who they first believed him to be.
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(Continued in comments)
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Today is my stop on the blogtour for 𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 by Ann Morgan. Thank you to Will Dady at Renard Press for having me along, and for sending me a copy of this very special book.
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'𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁,' 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴. '𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗺𝘀𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀.
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Crossing Over tells the stories of Edith, an elderly lady with Dementia, and Jonah, an illegal immigrant from Malawi.
Their paths cross, and become intertwined in extraordinary ways. There are so many parallels in their lives, memories and experiences, and Morgan has written an incredibly clever and emotive story.
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𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲. 𝗔𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 ����𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘇𝗲. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲, 𝗮 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗮 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗯 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝘁. 𝗔𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗶𝗻: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗱𝗵𝗽𝘂𝗿𝘀, 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗶𝘁.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆, 𝘂𝗻𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘄. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲.
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The reader recognises very quickly that Edith is not well, and that she isn't fully rooted in the present. Initially the indications that something may be amiss are subtle, with Edith noticing the barn door being open but immediately forgetting again, several times, over several days.
Like many readers, I have witnessed severe dementia in some of my own family members, and I found the portrayal of Edith's decline to be very realistic. The obvious confusion, difficulty maintaining a conversation, and speaking in generalities is real and true.
Morgan's ambitious depiction of this experience from Edith's own perspective was well-executed, and so heartbreaking.
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𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱, 𝗳𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆.
'𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄,' 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀.
𝗛𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿. '𝗜𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀.'
𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳.
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Jonah has been through hell in his efforts to travel to the UK, and is understandably suffering from PTSD as a result.
His flashbacks and confusion, and inability to stay fully rooted in the present moment, perfectly parallel Edith's experience with her dementia.
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I just want to add a note that when I was introduced to Jonah I was a little skeptical of his voice, and of the language used, because of the fact that this is not an 'own voices' novel.
However, it is clear in the author's note and acknowledgements that Morgan has conducted significant research, and utilised many beta and sensitivity readers to shape Jonah's voice. While he is a fictionalised character, his experiences and journey are rooted in truth.
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𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 - 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝘆-𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗴𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘀 - 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗱-𝘄𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀, 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁. 𝗔𝗹𝘀𝗼, 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘁. 𝗦𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 - 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲? - 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿. 𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀. 𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵.
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One parallel that Morgan has employed perfectly in Crossing Over is the way that the English language is full of traps, tricks and pitfalls.
Edith and Jonah are both trying to make sense of a language that should feel familiar, but that eludes them and feels as though it sometimes makes a mockery of them. Both get stuck in cyclical thoughts, and experience communication as a test of sorts.
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𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹. 𝗛𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻, 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲'𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲.
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And as Edith deteriorates, Morgan deploys a fantastic unravelling of language, that perfectly reflects her untethered state.
As a reader, I could perfectly understand what Edith was thinking, and what she was trying to say, even though she jumbled some words and they weren't always in the right order.
Morgan's depiction of this decline was incredibly clever, and wonderfully depicted; it almost has a poetic quality to it, and forces the reader to interpret and read between the lines.
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𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗽 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀.
𝗬𝗲𝘀. 𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀... 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗺. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴... 𝘀𝗻𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱. 𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿. 𝗢𝗵 𝘆𝗲𝘀. 𝗛𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿.
𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗺, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗲, 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹
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There were small moments amongst the brain fog that made me feel so much empathy for both Edith and Jonah.
Neither have lived an easy life, and I'm not going to spoil the story by fully revealing why, but the details that Morgan employed (including war, boats, grief and loss, and family) were fantastic.
There are some key themes in particular within the story, including religion and faith, that particularly stood out to me.
Morgan includes commentary on spiritual faith, and a belief in a God that doesn't seem to care a great deal about his followers, yet expects them to be subservient. By extension, there are reflections on the community that uphold such spiritual/religious beliefs, yet don't seem to actually care about one another or genuinely take care of one another when they need it most.
This is reflected in Jonah's community before he leaves for England, in Edith's community in how it's easier for them to turn a blind eye to the extent of her decline, and in how the community treat Jonah once they realise he is not who they first believed him to be.
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(Continued in comments)
April 18, 2023
4.5*
This is a wonderfully written book about two people each lost in their own world. Edie lives on the family farm. She lives alone seeing her friend Jean now and then. Now in her eighties Edie is not only finding it hard to cope she is getting forgetful or rather she is losing time, losing her grip on where she is in time.
Jonah has finally made it to the U.K. it’s taken such a long time and he has seen some terrible things. Still the thought of, the consequences of staying in his homeland with its poverty, famine and without the kind of opportunity he has dreamed of just about made the journey worth it. Since he broke away from the group crossing over he has worried that they have come after him. Even in the relative safety of the barn he has come upon there is no telling what he might suffer if he is found. His anxiety is high, fearful of being found and memories of the journey he is lost and will do whatever is necessary to stay alive, stay free in order to make it to London where his dreams will be fulfilled.
So it is that we have two protagonists who are so different and yet have much in common. Edie worried about Jean, along with the vicar and doctor, getting her taken into care because she is confused, forgetful retreats into her own world of years ago believing it is reality. Jonah worried about being caught by those who smuggled him over or by the authorities as an illegal immigrant is beset by anxiety, memories of the past and the journey he suffers from confusion. When they finally meet these strange and confusing worlds that they have become entwined with each other. Their relationship is not the easiest but circumstances work to keep them together each serving a purpose for the other.
As we dive further into their lives through their words, various events and memories we come to understand how they got to this point. It is a catastrophic event that begins to bring things to a head and finds them moving on.
This book brings you up close to how it might, how it must feel to be at the start and beyond of loss. There are passages in which you are the one who is beginning to lose control of what is happening, of time, of your critical faculties. How must that feel? When we know someone who has dementia can we really understand what they are going through? Unlikely and yet here the author has written about it in such a way as to bring it to life for the reader to allow the reader, albeit briefly, to live it in their own mind. Feeling the disorientation, the confusion and the fear.
We are also confronted with the story of illegal immigration that of Jonah. We learn what brought him to decide to leave his homeland and make the difficult journey across two continents in order to find a better life, a life that would enable him to live well and financially support his family. That coming to the U.K. would make this possible is what Jonah believes but is it really true? I have my doubts. That the U.K. is hyped as a country that can fulfil such dreams is overplayed.
There is much heartache in the story both in the present and the past. Life can be cruel in many ways and this story does not shy away from painful moments. How Edie is treated by friends and family. How Jonah is treated at home and abroad.
Ann Morgan has written a wonderful book with an amazing story about loss and difference, about the need for empathy, compassion and kindness with sensitivity and skill.
Thanks
Many thanks to Will at Renard Press for the invitation to join this fantastic blog tour and providing an ARC copy of Crossing Over by Ann Morgan for review purposes.
This is a wonderfully written book about two people each lost in their own world. Edie lives on the family farm. She lives alone seeing her friend Jean now and then. Now in her eighties Edie is not only finding it hard to cope she is getting forgetful or rather she is losing time, losing her grip on where she is in time.
Jonah has finally made it to the U.K. it’s taken such a long time and he has seen some terrible things. Still the thought of, the consequences of staying in his homeland with its poverty, famine and without the kind of opportunity he has dreamed of just about made the journey worth it. Since he broke away from the group crossing over he has worried that they have come after him. Even in the relative safety of the barn he has come upon there is no telling what he might suffer if he is found. His anxiety is high, fearful of being found and memories of the journey he is lost and will do whatever is necessary to stay alive, stay free in order to make it to London where his dreams will be fulfilled.
So it is that we have two protagonists who are so different and yet have much in common. Edie worried about Jean, along with the vicar and doctor, getting her taken into care because she is confused, forgetful retreats into her own world of years ago believing it is reality. Jonah worried about being caught by those who smuggled him over or by the authorities as an illegal immigrant is beset by anxiety, memories of the past and the journey he suffers from confusion. When they finally meet these strange and confusing worlds that they have become entwined with each other. Their relationship is not the easiest but circumstances work to keep them together each serving a purpose for the other.
As we dive further into their lives through their words, various events and memories we come to understand how they got to this point. It is a catastrophic event that begins to bring things to a head and finds them moving on.
This book brings you up close to how it might, how it must feel to be at the start and beyond of loss. There are passages in which you are the one who is beginning to lose control of what is happening, of time, of your critical faculties. How must that feel? When we know someone who has dementia can we really understand what they are going through? Unlikely and yet here the author has written about it in such a way as to bring it to life for the reader to allow the reader, albeit briefly, to live it in their own mind. Feeling the disorientation, the confusion and the fear.
We are also confronted with the story of illegal immigration that of Jonah. We learn what brought him to decide to leave his homeland and make the difficult journey across two continents in order to find a better life, a life that would enable him to live well and financially support his family. That coming to the U.K. would make this possible is what Jonah believes but is it really true? I have my doubts. That the U.K. is hyped as a country that can fulfil such dreams is overplayed.
There is much heartache in the story both in the present and the past. Life can be cruel in many ways and this story does not shy away from painful moments. How Edie is treated by friends and family. How Jonah is treated at home and abroad.
Ann Morgan has written a wonderful book with an amazing story about loss and difference, about the need for empathy, compassion and kindness with sensitivity and skill.
Thanks
Many thanks to Will at Renard Press for the invitation to join this fantastic blog tour and providing an ARC copy of Crossing Over by Ann Morgan for review purposes.
June 5, 2023
‘For those that didn’t make it.’
Edie finds the world around her increasingly difficult to comprehend. Words are no longer at her beck and call, old friends won't mind their own business and workmen have appeared in the neighbouring fields, preparing to obliterate the landscape she has known all her life. One day she finds an uninvited guest in the barn and is thrown back into the past.
Jonah has finally made it to England - where everything, he's been told, will be better. But the journey was fraught with danger, and many of his fellow travellers didn't make it. He is unprepared for what happens when he breaks into Edie's barn. Haunted by the prospect of being locked away and unable to trust anyone else, the elderly woman stubbornly battling dementia and the traumatised illegal immigrant find solace in an unlikely companionship that helps them make sense of their worlds even as they struggle to understand each other.
This is the sort of book that I would wish to be able to write. I was transfixed from the first page, quiet, careful and very powerful. Even the dedication (above) really strikes a chord and brought a lump to my throat before I’d started.
I loved both Edie and Jonah and what carefully crafted characters they are. We move between them and see their perspective in each chapter.
There is repetition in the early Edie chapters, highlighting her what is happening in her mind. The same thing appearing new each day, the confusion whirling, unable to grasp at words, the past more vivid than the present. And then we have Jonah, his mind also jumbled and jumping about, the unreliability of his own memory described with real clarity.
Two people, one with dementia, one with PTSD, both with faulty pathways, trying to navigate the world.
‘He passes a hand in front of his eyes. He has an odd feeling of being trapped. Surely they have had this conversation before?’
This really is a wonderfully spun story, the humbleness and humanity are front and centre. I just loved the writing even though it made me unutterably sad to read. The cyclical nature of their interactions, the repeated conversations, like a stuck record are just so perfect. It shows how a little bit of kindness and understanding can go a long way. Very pertinent and poignant to our current times, highly recommended.
Edie finds the world around her increasingly difficult to comprehend. Words are no longer at her beck and call, old friends won't mind their own business and workmen have appeared in the neighbouring fields, preparing to obliterate the landscape she has known all her life. One day she finds an uninvited guest in the barn and is thrown back into the past.
Jonah has finally made it to England - where everything, he's been told, will be better. But the journey was fraught with danger, and many of his fellow travellers didn't make it. He is unprepared for what happens when he breaks into Edie's barn. Haunted by the prospect of being locked away and unable to trust anyone else, the elderly woman stubbornly battling dementia and the traumatised illegal immigrant find solace in an unlikely companionship that helps them make sense of their worlds even as they struggle to understand each other.
This is the sort of book that I would wish to be able to write. I was transfixed from the first page, quiet, careful and very powerful. Even the dedication (above) really strikes a chord and brought a lump to my throat before I’d started.
I loved both Edie and Jonah and what carefully crafted characters they are. We move between them and see their perspective in each chapter.
There is repetition in the early Edie chapters, highlighting her what is happening in her mind. The same thing appearing new each day, the confusion whirling, unable to grasp at words, the past more vivid than the present. And then we have Jonah, his mind also jumbled and jumping about, the unreliability of his own memory described with real clarity.
Two people, one with dementia, one with PTSD, both with faulty pathways, trying to navigate the world.
‘He passes a hand in front of his eyes. He has an odd feeling of being trapped. Surely they have had this conversation before?’
This really is a wonderfully spun story, the humbleness and humanity are front and centre. I just loved the writing even though it made me unutterably sad to read. The cyclical nature of their interactions, the repeated conversations, like a stuck record are just so perfect. It shows how a little bit of kindness and understanding can go a long way. Very pertinent and poignant to our current times, highly recommended.
October 15, 2023
NB - I read the print version (kindly provided by Renard Press) which doesn't seem to have its own page yet but I hope it does soon, and that people find this book and read it.
I'm making up an origin story for this novel, which is that it came out in audio before print because its topic(s), author, and location all converged at a time when it wasn't cool (in publishing) for white writers to tell intimate (in the sense of a deep point of view) stories about characters whose cultural and racial backgrounds they didn't share.
First: I think that's a pretty good operating principle. I haven't read too many books by white writers that get at the nuance of being a non-white person in this world (not that I can possibly really understand what that is, being a white person myself - I'm just comparing books to other books). There are loads of genius non-white writers; we're probably better off, story-wise, leaving this job to people with literal skin in the game.
Having said that, who better to tell an immigration story from a British perspective than a white person on the receiving shore? This is a necessary perspective to share, too, and Ann Morgan does a magnificent job showing the bigotry that Jonah faces, and the extreme fear and trauma he experiences at every stage of his journey. White people need to talk to other white people about race, and she gives us a LOT to think about, very beautifully written but also spare enough that you cannot miss every excruciating emotion. It's a masterful book. Every now and again she can't help but hold up her homework to show the class - see how much research I did and how carefully I wrote my project! - but overall, it's clear she really did put in the time to get it right.
Ditto for the way she portrays Edie's slide into dementia. To tell this story from the perspective of two characters with so much to lose is mostly awful to witness, but it's an important story, and one that book groups would have a lot to discuss. If anyone else wants to read and talk about it, I'm game!
Major props to Renard Press for putting this out there. Really, it's a slam dunk, but good on them for swimming against the tide and taking a chance. This is a good one.
I'm making up an origin story for this novel, which is that it came out in audio before print because its topic(s), author, and location all converged at a time when it wasn't cool (in publishing) for white writers to tell intimate (in the sense of a deep point of view) stories about characters whose cultural and racial backgrounds they didn't share.
First: I think that's a pretty good operating principle. I haven't read too many books by white writers that get at the nuance of being a non-white person in this world (not that I can possibly really understand what that is, being a white person myself - I'm just comparing books to other books). There are loads of genius non-white writers; we're probably better off, story-wise, leaving this job to people with literal skin in the game.
Having said that, who better to tell an immigration story from a British perspective than a white person on the receiving shore? This is a necessary perspective to share, too, and Ann Morgan does a magnificent job showing the bigotry that Jonah faces, and the extreme fear and trauma he experiences at every stage of his journey. White people need to talk to other white people about race, and she gives us a LOT to think about, very beautifully written but also spare enough that you cannot miss every excruciating emotion. It's a masterful book. Every now and again she can't help but hold up her homework to show the class - see how much research I did and how carefully I wrote my project! - but overall, it's clear she really did put in the time to get it right.
Ditto for the way she portrays Edie's slide into dementia. To tell this story from the perspective of two characters with so much to lose is mostly awful to witness, but it's an important story, and one that book groups would have a lot to discuss. If anyone else wants to read and talk about it, I'm game!
Major props to Renard Press for putting this out there. Really, it's a slam dunk, but good on them for swimming against the tide and taking a chance. This is a good one.
May 3, 2019
A beautiful coming together of two lost souls.
Edie is getting old. She lives on her own with no help and is starting to forget things. Lots of things like baking a cake for the WI and clearing out the rubbish. Dusting and keeping her home tidy. But she can remember lots from her past. This past comes rolling back into her memory when she discovers Jonah, an illegal African migrant who survived the treacherous crossing and takes refuge in her barn. He comes with his own horrors – the crossing, the poverty and drought, his wife and children – he’s left them all behind with the hope of finding “Utopia” in England.
I loved this audiobook. It’s beautifully read by Adjoa Andoh. She manages to give us the perfect picture of the story through her various voices. The English voices of Edie and her friend, Jean and Jonah, copying his still strong African voice.
The story is sad because Edie lost the love of her life, Michael, an African-American deserter during WW2. When she comes across Jonah living in her barn, she is convinced that Michael has come back.
Jonah, on the other hand, must adjust to English life. The weather and especially face the truth that getting to the UK is only a quarter of the journey he’s taken to find “prosperity” for the family he’s left behind in Africa. He has to adapt to English culture, especially when he becomes Edie’s “carer”. He finds himself doing things that are entirely out of his ideas of culture, men being carers.
A very easy novel to listen to. I found the descriptions of Edie’s decline into ill-health and her growing dementia very sad. Jonah’s story is just as poignant. It did make me wonder how we can dissuade people from crossing the deadly seas looking for a better life? We can’t, not as long as they think “the streets of London are paved with gold” (Ralph McTell).
Imbali
Breakaway Reviewers received this audible book to review
Edie is getting old. She lives on her own with no help and is starting to forget things. Lots of things like baking a cake for the WI and clearing out the rubbish. Dusting and keeping her home tidy. But she can remember lots from her past. This past comes rolling back into her memory when she discovers Jonah, an illegal African migrant who survived the treacherous crossing and takes refuge in her barn. He comes with his own horrors – the crossing, the poverty and drought, his wife and children – he’s left them all behind with the hope of finding “Utopia” in England.
I loved this audiobook. It’s beautifully read by Adjoa Andoh. She manages to give us the perfect picture of the story through her various voices. The English voices of Edie and her friend, Jean and Jonah, copying his still strong African voice.
The story is sad because Edie lost the love of her life, Michael, an African-American deserter during WW2. When she comes across Jonah living in her barn, she is convinced that Michael has come back.
Jonah, on the other hand, must adjust to English life. The weather and especially face the truth that getting to the UK is only a quarter of the journey he’s taken to find “prosperity” for the family he’s left behind in Africa. He has to adapt to English culture, especially when he becomes Edie’s “carer”. He finds himself doing things that are entirely out of his ideas of culture, men being carers.
A very easy novel to listen to. I found the descriptions of Edie’s decline into ill-health and her growing dementia very sad. Jonah’s story is just as poignant. It did make me wonder how we can dissuade people from crossing the deadly seas looking for a better life? We can’t, not as long as they think “the streets of London are paved with gold” (Ralph McTell).
Imbali
Breakaway Reviewers received this audible book to review
April 19, 2023
I loved this book! It beautifully captures the experiences of 2 very different people experiencing very different circumstances, and how their paths cross and their lives connect.
Edie is getting older, and her mind isn't what it used to be but her pride stops her from telling people she is struggling. Her memory lapses are laughed off by her when picked up on by friends, and she does all she can to keep the facade of her being ok at the fore. But behind closed doors her mind is jumbled, her memory is shot and she's scared.
Jonah is a young man who has finally made it to England for a better life - well that's what he's been led to believe but the reality is far from glorious. He finds himself living in an unlocked barn and that's where he finds himself in the life of Edie, as he watches her struggling and begins to look after her. She sees him as a carer and soon they find themselves relying on one another to get by.
The author really captures the fragility of the human mind perfectly in Edie. Having had relatives deal with dementia, it really struck a chord with me of how quickly life becomes difficult no matter how hard they try to keep pushing through and pretending all is ok. And in Jonah she has created a character who is trying to find his feet in this new land, a land supposedly full of opportunities and is left questioning his decisions when he falls into life as a carer - not what he imagined his life would become. But you really feel his empathy for Edie and I love how they interact and are there for one another, and just shows how humans can connect despite having very different backgrounds.
It's a story that clips along at a wonderful pace and I was totally absorbed in the drama that unfolded as we saw them both facing difficult times in their lives. Highly recommended!
Edie is getting older, and her mind isn't what it used to be but her pride stops her from telling people she is struggling. Her memory lapses are laughed off by her when picked up on by friends, and she does all she can to keep the facade of her being ok at the fore. But behind closed doors her mind is jumbled, her memory is shot and she's scared.
Jonah is a young man who has finally made it to England for a better life - well that's what he's been led to believe but the reality is far from glorious. He finds himself living in an unlocked barn and that's where he finds himself in the life of Edie, as he watches her struggling and begins to look after her. She sees him as a carer and soon they find themselves relying on one another to get by.
The author really captures the fragility of the human mind perfectly in Edie. Having had relatives deal with dementia, it really struck a chord with me of how quickly life becomes difficult no matter how hard they try to keep pushing through and pretending all is ok. And in Jonah she has created a character who is trying to find his feet in this new land, a land supposedly full of opportunities and is left questioning his decisions when he falls into life as a carer - not what he imagined his life would become. But you really feel his empathy for Edie and I love how they interact and are there for one another, and just shows how humans can connect despite having very different backgrounds.
It's a story that clips along at a wonderful pace and I was totally absorbed in the drama that unfolded as we saw them both facing difficult times in their lives. Highly recommended!
September 28, 2023
Book of the Month 2309 | Modern Fiction
En smart, intressant och fin bok om flyktingen Jonah och åldrande Edie, och hur hans trauma och hennes demens gör att de på ett speciellt sätt lär förstå varandra trots bådas svårigheter med språk, tid- och rumsuppfattning och liknande. Det var ett särskit intressant samtal i läsecirkeln där en av gruppmedlemmarna forskat kring demens i 30 år och en annan gruppmedlem just nu läser arkitektmaster med fokus på flyktingläger, skydd och liknande.
Alla i cirkeln tyckte om boken, som är som en allvarlig typ av feelgood-ish. Morgan har gjort mycket research och verkar utöver det varit insatt redan innan. Det hon försöker åstadkomma med karaktärerna och deras möte är ambitiöst och det lyckas för det mesta men inte alltid. Vissa bitar var kanske en aning tillgjorda eller väl lägliga men vi tyckte det var okej sett till ambitionen med boken.
Ett stabilt verk på alla plan, trevligt att läsa en bok som börjar bra och blir bättre, snarare än en bok som börjar bra och sedan gör en besviken!
Reading Group: 3,6
En smart, intressant och fin bok om flyktingen Jonah och åldrande Edie, och hur hans trauma och hennes demens gör att de på ett speciellt sätt lär förstå varandra trots bådas svårigheter med språk, tid- och rumsuppfattning och liknande. Det var ett särskit intressant samtal i läsecirkeln där en av gruppmedlemmarna forskat kring demens i 30 år och en annan gruppmedlem just nu läser arkitektmaster med fokus på flyktingläger, skydd och liknande.
Alla i cirkeln tyckte om boken, som är som en allvarlig typ av feelgood-ish. Morgan har gjort mycket research och verkar utöver det varit insatt redan innan. Det hon försöker åstadkomma med karaktärerna och deras möte är ambitiöst och det lyckas för det mesta men inte alltid. Vissa bitar var kanske en aning tillgjorda eller väl lägliga men vi tyckte det var okej sett till ambitionen med boken.
Ett stabilt verk på alla plan, trevligt att läsa en bok som börjar bra och blir bättre, snarare än en bok som börjar bra och sedan gör en besviken!
Reading Group: 3,6
May 15, 2023
"Compassion consists in meeting someone in their reality rather than insisting on dragging them into yours."
Ik had genoten van haar eerste roman, Beside Myself, en met haar tweede heeft Ann Morgan mij allerminst teleurgesteld, wel integendeel. We slaan een gans andere weg in en worden geconfronteerd met scherpe vragen betreffende de manier waarop wij aankijken tegen "anders zijn", meer bepaald dementie en vluchtelingen/migratie/vreemdelingen.
Ann Morgan vertelt haar verhaal vanuit verschillende hoeken en heel dikwijls moet je als lezer zelf de nodige verbanden leggen, feiten hun plaats geven in de chronologie, bekijken vanuit welk standpunt en in welk tijdskader de gebeurtenissen zich voordoen. Dat alles maakt dat je aandacht steeds op scherp moet staan.
Ik zie in de titel van het werk "Crossing over" niet zozeer de oversteek van een zee naar een ander land, dan wel de oversteek van onszelf naar een ander met alle moeilijkheden die dat teweeg brengt.
Ik had genoten van haar eerste roman, Beside Myself, en met haar tweede heeft Ann Morgan mij allerminst teleurgesteld, wel integendeel. We slaan een gans andere weg in en worden geconfronteerd met scherpe vragen betreffende de manier waarop wij aankijken tegen "anders zijn", meer bepaald dementie en vluchtelingen/migratie/vreemdelingen.
Ann Morgan vertelt haar verhaal vanuit verschillende hoeken en heel dikwijls moet je als lezer zelf de nodige verbanden leggen, feiten hun plaats geven in de chronologie, bekijken vanuit welk standpunt en in welk tijdskader de gebeurtenissen zich voordoen. Dat alles maakt dat je aandacht steeds op scherp moet staan.
Ik zie in de titel van het werk "Crossing over" niet zozeer de oversteek van een zee naar een ander land, dan wel de oversteek van onszelf naar een ander met alle moeilijkheden die dat teweeg brengt.
April 10, 2023
Crossing Over is a heart-rending, powerful novel about the migrant crisis written from the point of view of Jonah, who has travelled through hell to reach England from Malawi, and Edie, the elderly woman declining into dementia in whom he finds an unlikely ally.
In inventive prose, Morgan tells the story of these two lost souls, both trapped and traumatised by the past, with immense compassion and wit; their singular, arresting voices shine with humour and sorrow, but above all, humanity. It is at times a distressing read – as it should be – but is also rewarding, surprisingly funny, and wholly unforgettable.
In inventive prose, Morgan tells the story of these two lost souls, both trapped and traumatised by the past, with immense compassion and wit; their singular, arresting voices shine with humour and sorrow, but above all, humanity. It is at times a distressing read – as it should be – but is also rewarding, surprisingly funny, and wholly unforgettable.
June 17, 2019
I really couldnt get into this. The narrator was brilliant and I must admit I do wonder how it progressed, but I just couldnt get into it for some reason
August 4, 2021
A story about an illegal immigrant from Africa crossing paths whilst in England with an elderly woman with advanced Alzheimer's. Yes, what an unusual premise. It wasn't the book I was expecting and found it very heavy going. The narrator, Adjoa Andoh, was very good, especially with the African voices, but I found her presentation of the woman very brash. It was certainly thought provoking about the two issues of illegal immigration and Alzheimer's, but was presented in a way that didn't quite work for me. The way events unfolded seemed very unlikely.
April 13, 2023
This was such a beautiful read about two very different people and what happens when their worlds collide. Edie is not getting any younger and her age is creeping up on her more than she would like. She has started to forget things but she can remember so many things from her past. When she meets Jonah I wondered if he would be able to help her but can she also help him? It was interesting to see these two people come together when they needed someone the most. This is a sad story and it was heart breaking to see Edie deteriorating, you will know what I mean if you have been through it with someone. But this is such a thought provoking book that is told really well. I wanted to help Edie and I was hoping for the best for her.
February 28, 2021
This is the second Ann Morgan book I’ve read/listened to and she has an incredible talent for conveying the experiences of others. Her depiction of dementia in this book is superb. There are so many touching details for both POVs. I didn’t love it quite as much as Beside Myself but it is excellent and I’d definitely recommend it. Edit: several months later, I’m upgrading this to 5 stars. This has really stayed with me and I appreciate it even more on reflection.
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