The Last Crossing | 
 enlarge | Author: Guy Vanderhaeghe
Publisher: Highbridge Audio
Category: Book
List Price: $36.95
Buy Used: $6.15
You Save: $30.80 (83%)
New (5) from $22.94
Avg. Customer Rating:  38 reviews
Sales Rank: 1760822
Format: Abridged, Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Abridged
Number Of Items: 10
Pages: 720
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6 x 5.3 x 1.5
ISBN: 1565118537
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781565118539
ASIN: 1565118537
Publication Date: February 23, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: All CDs are fine. Box is worn.
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Amazon.com
Set in the late 19th century, The Last Crossing, Guy Vanderhaeghe's first novel since his acclaimed Englishman's Boy, is the story of three well-off English brothers: twins Simon and Charles Gaunt and their elder sibling, Addington, a former soldier and an arrogant scoundrel. At the behest of their dictatorial father, Charles and Addington travel the prairies of the U.S. and Canada in search of sensitive Simon, who has disappeared. Much of the novel concerns their journeys--bottles of port and claret rattling in their wagons--through Indian country with a cast of intricately drawn, fully realized characters. The small troupe is led through the whiskey-coloured light by Jerry Potts, a half-breed with one foot firmly in each world. The heart of the plot involves the love that Charles, a painter, feels for Lucy Stoveall, a simple but lovely country woman who accompanies them, secretly intent on avenging her sister's murder. However, the most intriguing character in this marvelous collection of all-too-human personalities is Custis Straw, a Bible-reading, heavy-drinking Civil War veteran who hides his tremendous dignity behind a bumbling facade, and who also loves Lucy. Vanderhaeghe's rich language reveals a genuine feel for the prairies and their rough settlements: "a boom town draws rogues like a jam jar draws wasps," he writes, and describes "miles of wet plain patched with apple green, new penny copper, glints of silver." Though this is a Western in the traditional sense, Vanderhaeghe never sinks into parody. Rather, he uses the Western motif to reveal a number of profound universal truths about personal honour, and human failings and strengths. His humane character depictions reach emotional depths found in few novels today. --Mark Frutkin, Amazon.ca
Product Description
This epic tale sweeps across continents and time, hovers over a key area in American History, and deftly realizes the humanity of a whole cast of characters. Charles and Addington are two brothers sent from the comforts of Victorian England by their dictatorial father to find Simon, a brother missing somewhere in the depths of the American West. As Charles, a sensitive painter, and Addington, an arrogant former Soldier, search the American frontier, they gather a troupe of other characters--Lucy, bent on avenging her sister's death, Custis, a Civil War veteran, and Jerry Potts, a half-breed. The love story that emerges eventually forces Charles to confront the meaning of love--and what it means to cross over.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 33 more reviews...
 Too intense for me September 17, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'll admit up front that I only read the first 50 pages, but I just couldn't keep reading it because of its graphic nature. I think the author is highly intelligent, and I have a hunch the book is masterfully crafted, I've heard nothing but great comments about his talent. So this review is by no means a fully-informed one. I just wanted to tag a warning for those people who enjoy a well-written book minus the shock value. I figured if I couldn't get through 50 pages without detailed sex, murder and rape, it wasn't worth it to keep going.
 The Gaunts Put the 'Dis' in Dysfunctional September 5, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Young Englishman Simon Gaunt, religious zealot, has gone missing in the Old American West (specifically Canada). Dear old dad Henry, the overbearing so-and-so, sends older brother Addington and Simon's twin Charles in search. These folks put the `dis' in a dysfunctional family. Addington, a self-centered martinet, loves only himself and his pleasures and timid Charles, an aspiring artist, seems not to know what he wants. They hire Jerry Potts, a real-life Canadian frontiersman (Vanderhaeghe is Canadian) to help find Simon and meet up with a collection of society's castoffs and loose ends and form an odd posse.
To some readers, calling this book Western literature might be a put off or a putdown - I happen to love Western writing (A.B. Guthrie and Larry McMurtry to name two) - so let's just call it literature set in the Old West. Vanderhaeghe is a tremendously talented writer.
Highly recommended for fans of Western literature or just fine writing of any kind.
Great read. Definitely recommended June 13, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Richly painted and diverse characters fill a story highlighting American and Canadian Western Frontier history. A nearly boiling-over melting pot of Englishmen, Scots, Americans, Native Americans, men and women, and mixes in between. Wonderful writing style that moves along at a great pace while spending time diving deep into the people and places that make up the tale.
 Won't Find Better Writing March 9, 2005
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
You won't be able to find any better writing than this. Frequently I had to stop just to admire the wordsmithing I had just encountered. Mr. Vanderhaeghe has an unparelleled ability to use metaphors, similes and simple words to describe something so vividly that you think you are looking at the object rather than a page in abook.
The story line is a young, idealistic Englishman gets lost in America. At the urging of their tyrannical father his two brothers search Montana and into Canada for him. Along the way they are joined by a Civil War veteran and a woman who are key players and a few ancillary characters. There are interactions with Indians throughout, but not of the cowboy and Indian type.
The tale is spun by the characters themselves, flashing from one to another. Occasionally a third person narrative is interjected to move the plot along. The author gets the different voices of the characters well so it is easy to maintain the identity of the speaker.
The historical context and relations with the Indians of the area are captured well. There is a love triangle and a character or two going over the edge. Sibling rivalries and love are explored deeply.
In addition to the fine writing, the author is terrific at developing the characters. Early on, the reader feels that he knows all of them, which always adds to a book. The dialogue between them is colorful and believeable. Often in a book such as this the first person narratives do not work because the author embues the speaker with too much knowledge or intelligence to be believable. Mr. Vanderhaege does not fall into the trap. The thoughts of each are credible and fit their personalities.
My only criticism of the book is that there are a few slow spots that are long enough to detract from the story line and the book as a whole. Even in the areas that are not so well paced, however, the writing continues to be absolutely wonderful. If there were half stars this would be be four and one half.
This is strongly recommended for the writing first, the characters second and the story line third.
 An interesting Mix February 18, 2005
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
Historical fiction with a modern eye overseeing all. Learned about some new people, but the pacing left a lot to be desired.
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