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A review by thegourmetbookworm
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
5.0
Few authors write with the grace of Wallace Stegner. Crossing to Safety isn’t just a novel—it’s a masterclass in storytelling, a beautifully crafted portrait of friendship, marriage, and time’s passage. Stegner’s prose is luminous, his sentences so exquisitely structured I often reread them just to savor their rhythm. If hard writing makes for easy reading, Stegner must have worked tirelessly to create a novel that feels effortless.
The story follows two couples—Larry and Sally Morgan, Sid and Charity Lang—whose lives intertwine over four decades, from Depression-era Wisconsin to Vermont’s rolling hills. While Larry, an aspiring writer, finds success, his life is marked by hardship as Sally battles polio. Sid, charming but passive, struggles under Charity’s unrelenting ambition. Their relationships shift and evolve, tested by illness, expectations, and the realities of growing older.
While I admired the novel’s depth and insight, I found Charity exasperating, her domineering nature often overshadowing the tenderness at the heart of the story. And though the ending felt abrupt, it didn’t diminish Stegner’s brilliance.
Unlike The Angle of Repose, his Pulitzer-winning novel, this book is quieter, more introspective, yet just as profound. It’s a novel to be read slowly, to be absorbed. Stegner was one of the most gifted writers of the 20th century, and Crossing to Safety is a testament to his genius. I’d have loved to share a cocktail with him and ask how he did it. 4.5 stars.
The story follows two couples—Larry and Sally Morgan, Sid and Charity Lang—whose lives intertwine over four decades, from Depression-era Wisconsin to Vermont’s rolling hills. While Larry, an aspiring writer, finds success, his life is marked by hardship as Sally battles polio. Sid, charming but passive, struggles under Charity’s unrelenting ambition. Their relationships shift and evolve, tested by illness, expectations, and the realities of growing older.
While I admired the novel’s depth and insight, I found Charity exasperating, her domineering nature often overshadowing the tenderness at the heart of the story. And though the ending felt abrupt, it didn’t diminish Stegner’s brilliance.
Unlike The Angle of Repose, his Pulitzer-winning novel, this book is quieter, more introspective, yet just as profound. It’s a novel to be read slowly, to be absorbed. Stegner was one of the most gifted writers of the 20th century, and Crossing to Safety is a testament to his genius. I’d have loved to share a cocktail with him and ask how he did it. 4.5 stars.