Overview

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. Rattling around in an old farmhouse on the cliffs, she's beginning to run out of excuses to stop do-gooders interfering when 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. Sights firmly set on London, but unsure which way to turn, 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. Crossing Over is a delicately spun tale that celebrates compassion and considers the transcendent language of humanity.

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9781804470220

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Reviews

'Ann Morgan is such an interesting writer… The portrayal of dementia from Edie’s increasingly fragmented point of view was very moving and believable and the relationship between her and Jonah was rooted in messy reality and all the more affecting for that.' (Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures); 'A sharp, rich, complex, layered novel, and an urgent story for our times, given depth and resonance by its careful historical echoes, and written with empathy, dynamism and technical brilliance.' (Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days); 'An extraordinary feat of empathic imagination… The writing is stunning, capturing realities where language itself is the enemy, and words shimmy and dance around. This is a novel which is both about, and brimming with, humanity.' (Maggie Brookes, author of Acts of Love and War); 'Crossing Over is a heart-rending, powerful novel… 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 it is also rewarding, surprisingly funny and wholly unforgettable.' (Nikki Marmery, author of On Wilder Seas); 'Crossing Over is an immensely ambitious novel… It masterfully explores the lives of two characters whose fates are balanced on a knife edge, for whom not even language is a given, both of whom are living on borrowed time. In its twists and turns, it constantly subverts expectations, never allowing itself to reach for the easy solution… From the clifftops of Kent to a village in Malawi, from the beaches of Dunkirk to wartime London, the novel’s range is as wide as its heart.' (Caroline Brothers, author of Hinterland)

'Ann Morgan is such an interesting writer... The portrayal of dementia from Edie's increasingly fragmented point of view was very moving and believable and the relationship between her and Jonah was rooted in messy reality and all the more affecting for that.' (Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures); 'A sharp, rich, complex, layered novel, and an urgent story for our times, given depth and resonance by its careful historical echoes, and written with empathy, dynamism and technical brilliance.' (Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days); 'An extraordinary feat of empathic imagination... The writing is stunning, capturing realities where language itself is the enemy, and words shimmy and dance around. This is a novel which is both about, and brimming with, humanity.' (Maggie Brookes, author of Acts of Love and War); 'Crossing Over is a heart-rending, powerful novel... 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 it is also rewarding, surprisingly funny and wholly unforgettable.' (Nikki Marmery, author of On Wilder Seas); 'Crossing Over is an immensely ambitious novel... It masterfully explores the lives of two characters whose fates are balanced on a knife edge, for whom not even language is a given, both of whom are living on borrowed time. In its twists and turns, it constantly subverts expectations, never allowing itself to reach for the easy solution... From the clifftops of Kent to a village in Malawi, from the beaches of Dunkirk to wartime London, the novel's range is as wide as its heart.' (Caroline Brothers, author of Hinterland)

Author Information

Ann Morgan is an author, speaker and editor based in Folkestone. Ann's writing has been published widely, including in the Guardian, Independent and Financial Times, and by the BBC. In 2012, she set herself the challenge of reading a book from every country in a year – a project that led to a TED talk and to the non-fiction book Reading the World: How I Read a Book from Every Country. Her debut novel, Beside Myself, has been translated into eight languages. Crossing Over, her latest novel, draws on her experience living just a few minutes from where many of the small boats crossing the Channel land. She is Literary Explorer in Residence of the Cheltenham Literature Festival for 2022 and 2023.

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