REVIEW:

You come to me and say, “I’m going away to a cabin in the woods by myself for a few days, to escape the noise of 21st century life. I need to recenter my priorities and remember what it can be like to disconnect with electronics and reconnect with humanity. I want to take something to read, similar to the incomparable Stoner by John Williams, that will remind me why I fell in love with literature. A quiet book where I can derive pleasure from the beauty of the words on the page and the images they conjure. It’s alright if it breaks my heart a little.”

I get up, take Crossing to Safety off the bookshelf, and press it into your hands. “This is the book,” I say.

“Really?” you ask. “A book written in the ‘80s about a decades-long friendship between two married couples? Hmm. I think I’ve heard of it.”

“Yes,” I respond. “You probably have. It’s a favorite of many astute readers. Had it not been for the inclusion of some plot points I try to avoid, it might have been one of mine.”

“Huh, okay. Then this is the book,” you confirm as you slide it into your bag.

“Yes it is,” I smile before adding while you walk out the door, “Just don’t forget you said you were alright with a broken heart.”

PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:

Called a "magnificently crafted story . . . brimming with wisdom" by Howard Frank Mosher in The Washington Post Book World, Crossing to Safety has, since its publication in 1987, established itself as one of the greatest and most cherished American novels of the twentieth century. Tracing the lives, loves, and aspirations of two couples who move between Vermont and Wisconsin, it is a work of quiet majesty, deep compassion, and powerful insight into the alchemy of friendship and marriage.