num_pages: 416
description: Charles and Addington Gaunt must find their free- spirited brother, Simon, who has gone missing in the wilds of the American West. They enlist the services of a guide to lead them on their journey across a harsh and unknown landscape. This is the enigmatic Jerry Potts, half Blackfoot, half Scottish, who suffers his own painful past. They are joined by Lucy Stoveall, a woman filled with rage and sorrow over the loss of her young sister Madge who was brutally murdered. She is on a vengeful mission to track down and kill the murderous Kelso brothers. The group is joined by a jumble of other characters en route, each of whom are forced to confront their own demons. But at the novel's centre is a love story. Vanderhaeghe glides effortlessly through the patois and frontier talk, faultlessly switching from cultured English characters to American roughnecks to Scots-Canadians, and the natural prairie landscape is evoked brilliantly. Vanderhaeghe's new novel is an epic masterpiece that solidifies his place as one of Canada's best storytellers.
language: English
title: The Last Crossing
titlecomplete: The Last Crossing
genres: Historical, American, Literary Fiction, Novels, 19th Century, Westerns, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Canadian Literature, Canada
ratings_count: 3512
places: Alberta, Canada, Montana
series: Frontier trilogy
awards: awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award
category: Fiction Book, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: CBC Canada Reads
publisher: Abacus Software