A review by margaret21
The Crossing by Andrew Miller

4.0

I'd read Andrew Miller if he re-interpreted the phone book. But this is the story of Maud, enigmatic Maud, who may or may not have Asperger's. It's the story of her love of boats, her courtship by Tim and their subsequent marriage, her scientific career: and then the tragedy that changes everything. And then Maud goes to sea. The comedy of manners in the first half, exposing the shallow conventions of Tim, his family and their village life is succeeded in the second by a detailed and quite technical account of Maud's days at sea, singlehandedly managing her boat as it sailed south. I, a real landlubber, would have expected to be totally out of my depth here (sorry!) but was as engaged as Maud herself in keeping the ship afloat.

Maud never shares herself with us, any more than she did with Tim. I wanted more intimacy with her, to understand her better, but its Miller's skill that keeps us interested in this enigmatic and unknowable character.

The ending was surprising. But then, so is the entire book.