The Crossing

Starred review from October 15, 2016
The fantastic voyage of a haunted woman.In the opening scene of Miller's (Pure, 2012, etc.) graceful, absorbing novel, Maud Stamp and Tim Rathbone, members of their university's sailing club, are at work repairing a boat when suddenly Maud falls 20 feet onto "rubbled brick" and, although at first she appears dead, opens her eyes, gets up, and walks 15 steps before collapsing. Tim--"tall, blue-eyed, patrician"--shocked that she is alive, rushes her to a hospital and, in short order, becomes her lover. He's fascinated by this self-possessed woman who lives in Spartan rooms, who "does not do banter," who (like Miller's protagonist in 1997's Ingenious Pain) seems not to suffer, or even to feel, pain, and who has on her forearm a tattoo, Sauve Qui Peut: every man for himself. The lovers seem complete opposites: after earning a degree in biology, Maud takes a position at a pharmaceutical company, assigned, ironically, to oversee trials of a powerful painkiller. Tim, born into wealth and privilege--Miller delightedly skewers his family's pretensions and hypocrisies--occupies himself by playing one of his precious collectible guitars; after their daughter is born, he happily becomes a stay-at-home dad. But Tim feels increasingly frustrated with Maud's coldness, her apparent distance from him and their child. Who is this woman, he wonders, who "entered his life with the force of myth"? Maud is, indeed, a cipher: is she a stereotypical scientist, focused on chemical rather than human interactions? Does she have Asperger's? Or is she hiding some deep, unspeakable grief, a more likely possibility that emerges in the second half of the novel, when she flees from a devastating tragedy to sail across the Atlantic, alone. In palpable detail, Miller depicts Maud's immersion in a watery, ravaging world, at once alien and threatening. There is something Shakespearean in her journey: in her battle against nature's wrath; the dreamlike settlement, inhabited by children, where she washes ashore; and her overwhelming desire to confront the unbearable. In pristine, elegant prose, Miller creates an indelible portrait of a mysterious woman and her tragic quest.

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Starred review from February 15, 2017

Sailing is the bond that connects the spectacularly mismatched pair of Tim Rathbone and Maud Stamp. With his family wealth, Tim is a dreamy dilettante who dabbles in music. Maud, the only child of two remote schoolteachers, is a practical, unsentimental scientist whose sole note of whimsy is a tattoo on her arm reading, "Sauve qui peut" (Every man for himself). Their early years together are spent companionably purchasing, then outfitting and sailing, an old yacht. When their daughter comes along, however, Maud, absorbed in her work as a medical researcher and showing little interest in child care, is content to leave Tim with the parenting responsibilities. Then tragedy strikes and the couple's tenuous bond snaps. When Tim moves back with his parents, Maud becomes unmoored. Given leave from work, she sets sail on a solo sea voyage that tests her stores of bravery and ingenuity. VERDICT What starts off as a bittersweet love story turns into Castaway in a novel of ineffable sadness, dramatic misadventure, and exceptionally fine storytelling. Highly recommended.--Barbara Love, formerly with Kingston Frontenac P.L., Ont.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2016
Is Maud incredibly fragile or remarkably strong? The question posed early in this profound novel captures her intriguing and sometimes unsettling nature. After she plunges from the deck of a boat onto concrete, a well-off young man named Tim takes care of her and begins to find he is falling in love with her. But when their young family is destroyed by tragedy, it is Maud who is left to take care of herself. Miller weaves the speculations of those who know her around Maud, creating the effect of a corridor of mirrors where each reflection shows a different angle. Her boss considers the idea that she might be on the autism spectrum; Tim's father considers her cruel; a boat yard worker worries about her. As she sets off alone on a boat voyage across the Atlantic, it seems Maud herself is uncertain about who she is. But the trials of her crossing reveal much of her character, in Miller's exquisitely paced and deliberate style. Mysterious and meditative, this novel notably displays one woman's resilience.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)