In 1791, a French ship discovers an island whose inhabitants have perfected the technique of ‘crossing’ from one body into another by looking each other in the eyes for several minutes. But their Law says that there can be no crossing without a return crossing. By the time the ship leaves the island, two young lovers—Alula, a woman, and Koahu, a man—have crossed with two of the ship’s crew: Joubert and Roblet, respectively.
Alula, now in the body of a sailor called Joubert, realizes the mistake they have made, and decides they must return to the island. But something is wrong with Roblet: he doesn’t seem to be conscious of what has happened, although at night he is tormented by his dreams. When Joubert tries to tell Roblet what has happened, Roblet denies him. Eventually, the two are separated. Joubert travels the world looking for Roblet, getting older and older until the time comes to choose between death and making another crossing. He makes another crossing. The novel describes all seven of Alula’s lives as she searches for her lost love and seeks to put things right again.
The two souls will meet again, twice, both times by accident and both times in Paris. The first time is in the 1840s. Alula will by then be the courtesan Jeanne Duval, while Koahu will be the poet Charles Baudelaire. But the reunion is troubled, and they are separated again. Baudelaire will, just before he dies, be convinced by Alula, now in the body of a wealthy woman called Édmonde, to cross with a young Belgian girl called Marieke. He will write a story about these events just before the crossing.
Alula, now as Édmonde, finally returns to the island on her own in 1881 and finds it devastated. The knowledge of crossing has been lost for all the islanders but one—their king, Mehevi, who is the descendant of Joubert, the sailor with whom Alula first crossed. When he leaves the island bound for Europe in 1900, Édmonde/Alula is compelled to follow him, suspecting him of murderous intentions. The two play a cat and mouse game lasting all the way through to 1940, as the Germans are about to invade Paris.
In 1940, as the Germans are invading France, Alula, now in the body of a woman called Madeleine, meets Walter, a Jewish-German refugee, and recognises him as the descendant of Koahu/Baudelaire from his tormented dreams and from a story he tells her. The arrival of the Germans forces them to separate. Walter escapes Paris the same day the Germans arrive.
Walter is unsure what to make of what Madeleine has told him, but as the clutches of the pursuing Germans tighten around him, he realises he has no other options. On the French-Spanish border, he finally gets his opportunity to make a crossing
Crossings is the first instalment of a trilogy that will bring the story into the present day.
Alula, now in the body of a sailor called Joubert, realizes the mistake they have made, and decides they must return to the island. But something is wrong with Roblet: he doesn’t seem to be conscious of what has happened, although at night he is tormented by his dreams. When Joubert tries to tell Roblet what has happened, Roblet denies him. Eventually, the two are separated. Joubert travels the world looking for Roblet, getting older and older until the time comes to choose between death and making another crossing. He makes another crossing. The novel describes all seven of Alula’s lives as she searches for her lost love and seeks to put things right again.
The two souls will meet again, twice, both times by accident and both times in Paris. The first time is in the 1840s. Alula will by then be the courtesan Jeanne Duval, while Koahu will be the poet Charles Baudelaire. But the reunion is troubled, and they are separated again. Baudelaire will, just before he dies, be convinced by Alula, now in the body of a wealthy woman called Édmonde, to cross with a young Belgian girl called Marieke. He will write a story about these events just before the crossing.
Alula, now as Édmonde, finally returns to the island on her own in 1881 and finds it devastated. The knowledge of crossing has been lost for all the islanders but one—their king, Mehevi, who is the descendant of Joubert, the sailor with whom Alula first crossed. When he leaves the island bound for Europe in 1900, Édmonde/Alula is compelled to follow him, suspecting him of murderous intentions. The two play a cat and mouse game lasting all the way through to 1940, as the Germans are about to invade Paris.
In 1940, as the Germans are invading France, Alula, now in the body of a woman called Madeleine, meets Walter, a Jewish-German refugee, and recognises him as the descendant of Koahu/Baudelaire from his tormented dreams and from a story he tells her. The arrival of the Germans forces them to separate. Walter escapes Paris the same day the Germans arrive.
Walter is unsure what to make of what Madeleine has told him, but as the clutches of the pursuing Germans tighten around him, he realises he has no other options. On the French-Spanish border, he finally gets his opportunity to make a crossing
Crossings is the first instalment of a trilogy that will bring the story into the present day.
