Crossing to Safety is the story of the friendship between two couples, focusing primarily on the academic struggles of the husbands, and the health troubles of the wives. The book did not resonate with me, and I found the portraits sometimes shallow. In particular, Charity, one of the wives, is so overbearing that the book is rather unpleasantly overwhelmed by her personality. I kept wanting to hear about the other characters, but then there’d come another earful about some controlling action by Charity. I sometimes felt that I was sitting in the narrator’s kitchen, listening to him vent about yet another egregious episode perpetrated by his friend’s wife. The book is only saved by rising above these petty details to deal with the subject of death in an poignant way; at least it got some tears from me, although I may be an easy mark.

On a side note, I also liked the fact that Stegner delved into certain mundane life issues, like financial difficulties, and surviving in academia. One of the characters is quite wealthy, and we get a different take on the whole Friends with Money situation.

This is the first book that I’ve read by Wallace Stegner. Apparently it was his last novel. I’d be willing to try something else by him, if only for comparison.