The Crossing
"An imaginative and moving take on friendship, love, and the movies." - Kirkus Reviews, Get It Verdict
"[A] strong hook and complex tale of grief alongside the beauty of human connection." - BookLife Reviews
From the author of the award-winning novel Of Dreams and Angels comes a touching exploration of the bonds that shape us, the ambitions that divide us, and the stories through which we make sense of love and loss.
By the time his best friend's screenplay becomes a worldwide hit film, Ben knows the version audiences fell in love with is not the whole truth. What remains unclear is where Taylor's fiction ends and reality begins.
Taylor Thorne is a struggling Los Angeles screenwriter with a habit of sabotaging jobs and rewriting his own life in the telling. Then a fleeting, inexplicable encounter at Sunset and Marmont shatters his writer's block. A woman appears in his path-vivid, unmistakable-before vanishing just as quickly. Soon after, Taylor begins writing a script that will change everything: a love story built around the woman he cannot forget, and a supposed crossing between worlds that Ben only begins to understand after Taylor is gone. At first, Ben assumes his friend has finally found creative momentum. Then Ben meets Natalie himself. Her presence makes Taylor's story harder to dismiss and stranger to comprehend, especially when Ben can find no trace of her anywhere else.
Told through Ben's retrospective narration and scenes from the screenplay Taylor left behind, The Crossing is a layered, cinematic novel about friendship, grief, faith, and the stories we create about the people we love.
"Bold and skillfully executed... gorgeous writing and well-executed romance. It is a tender, funny, and devastating story that will leave you believing we should love people while we can." -Readers' Favorite, 5-Star Review
These questions were provieded by DartFrog Books.
Book club questions for The Crossing by Jared Morrison
Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.
Ben tells us Taylor’s story after Taylor is gone. How much did you trust Ben as a narrator? Did your view of him change as the novel progressed?
The novel presents romantic love as one of many kinds of love. Which relationship did you ultimately see as the emotional center of the book: Taylor and Natalie, Ben and Taylor, or something else?
How did Ben’s resentment of Taylor affect the way you understood their friendship? Did you sympathize with Ben, judge him, or both?
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Create My ClubWhat did you make of Natalie? Did you ultimately believe her explanation of where she came from—or do you think the novel leaves room for another interpretation?
The story alternates between Ben’s retrospective narration and Taylor’s screenplay. How did moving between those two forms affect the way you understood what was true, embellished, remembered, or invented?
The title The Crossing has several possible meanings beyond the literal crossing between worlds. What did “crossing” come to mean to you by the end of the novel?
Did the ending change your interpretation of anything that came before it? What did you believe had actually happened when you closed the book?
Did any part of the book strike a particular emotion in you? Which part, and what did it make you feel?
What did you see as the central themes of the novel? How effectively did the book explore them?
Did you highlight or bookmark any passages? Did you have a favourite quote or passage? If so, which one and why?
How would you adapt The Crossing into a movie? Who would you cast in the leading roles?
Rate The Crossing on a scale of 1 to 10. Why did you give it that rating? Did any part of this discussion change your rating from what it would have been immediately after finishing the book?
The Crossing Book Club Questions PDF
Download a printable PDF of these discussion questions to bring to your meeting.