The Last Crossing (original 2003; edition 2005)

This has western written all over it. Plenty of action with shooting, stabbing and scalping - but it's not just an action packed story. Even more I would say it's reflective and deals with the inner turmoils of the many very different characters coming to terms with their conflicted past.

The two brothers Charles and Addington Gaunt sail from England to "The New World" in a doomed search of their lost brother Simon. Charles is a good-hearted but disillusioned artist, Addington, a disgraced military captain, is a reckless man without honor - together they assemble an unlikely search party at the Montana frontier - among them the "half breed" scout Potts (half Blackfoot, half Scot) - the Civil War veteran Custis Straw and - of course - a woman - the young Lucy Stoveall - who have an agenda of her own - to seek revenge for the murder of her sister. And she attracts the attention of both Charles and Custis which brings additional tension to this band of misfits.

Canadian author Guy Vanderhaeghe alternates between many of the characters perspective - sometimes narrating in first person, sometimes in third person - and he does something magical with the language in this book - his "archaic" style (in a good way) fits with the time and place so well - you are instantly brought back to 1871 and immediately get a lot of dust in your eyes riding a long the trail. The sense of place is exceptional here. This is a clever, well-researched intellectual, yet suspenseful western. ( )

i was sick when i listened to this and had trouble focusing but i liked the different narrators especially eric peterson. the story is very good and as someone said, westerns are good stories. i like larry mcmurtrey and vanderhaeghe's the englishman's boy--the movie. i intend to read or listen to it. he's very good at the rough- hewn honest contrasted with the "i am sophisticated and i know best--especially when it suits my purposes."
what does the title mean? ( )

The Last Crossing by Vanderhagie is very good, 4 stars, maybe 4.5. It's the second in a trilogy recently completed, where much of the action takes place in the Canadian West, in the case of TLC, Alberta. It is long, has an epic feel to it, but comes in at "only" 400+ pages. The story begins and ends in England. A father sends his two sons to 1870's Montana to find the twin of the younger brother. Simon is discovering himself, led by ex-con Rev. Witherspoon. There are many excellent, lengthy passages which make this book a joy to read including a funeral, boxing match, a showdown in a cave while rescuing a damsel in distress, a Civil War battle, a grizzly attack, Indians fighting Indians (but not settlers ! - this is few years before Custer's Last Stand), finding the brother, discovering who killed Madge via the belt clue, and finally Charles's big surprises. My biggest negative is that there are times when the story drags a bit and gets a bit too British. I will probably read at least one more book in the trilogy (different characters in each book).Completed 10/23. ( )

Note: this is a review of the story as it appeared on the CBC podcast "Between the Covers".

CBC put together a fine crew to read this book for "Between the Covers". Through the actors' reading I was able to better appreciate Guy Vanderhaeghe's wonderfully descriptive writing, for example Lucy's dream. His ability to capture different voices was also broadcast to great effect here. Custis spoke differently than Lucy, who differed from Dooley, who of course differed from Charles. I also thought it kind of funny that whenever any of the other narrators had to quote dialogue spoken by Charles, they ALL did their best British accents. It was a hoot! Oh Charles and his pompous Britishness. And Vanderhaeghe's rendering of Jerry Potts' thought processes in narration was very good.

As for the story itself, it was interesting the second time around. I read it before but put it down perilously close to the end and never got back into it. Suffice to say the end was quite the surprise, but the various ends were tied up nicely (or left to continue their usual patterns). The adventures of the search party were very exciting, and the characters' evolution (or lack thereof) throughout the story kept you reading. The dialogue was also good and contained some amusing one-liners, such as Custis Straw's sharp remark to Titus Kelso: "Titus, the best part of you dripped down your mother's leg." I laughed aloud at that one because it was just so sharp and rude! Also because Eric Peterson said it.

Overall, a good book. Might be better in audio if you can get it, just so you can fully appreciate the different voices. ( )

Easy to read, plot moved along nicely and some interesting characters. The ambience reminded me very much of The Tenderness of Wolves which was a favourite of mine. Also some shades of St Agnes Stand. Nice ending too.
5 days ( )