Dublin Literary Award Logo
2004 Longlist

The Last Crossing

artwork-image

ABOUT
THE BOOK

Charles and Addington Gaunt must find their brother Simon, who has gone missing in the wilds of the American West. Charles, a disillusioned artist, and Addington, a disgraced military captain, enlist the services of a guide to lead them on their journey across a difficult and unknown landscape. This is the enigmatic Jerry Potts, half Blackfoot, half Scottish, who suffers his own painful past. The party grows to include Caleb Ayto, a sycophantic American journalist and Lucy Stoveall, a wise and beautiful woman who travels in the hope of avenging her sister’s vicious murder. Later, the group is joined by Custis Straw, a Civil War veteran searching for salvation and Custis’s friend and protector Aloysius Dooley, a saloonkeeper. This unlikely posse becomes entangled in an unfolding drama that forces each person to come to terms with his own demons.
The Last Crossing contains many haunting scenes – among them, a bear hunt at dawn, the meeting of a Métis caravan, the discovery of an Indian village decimated by smallpox, a sharpshooter’s devastating annihilation of his prey, a young boy’s last memory of his mother. Vanderhaeghe links the hallowed colleges of Oxford and the pleasure houses of London to the treacherous Montana plains; and the rough trading posts of the Canadian wilderness to the heart of Indian folklore. At the novel’s centre is an unusual and moving love story.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Guy
Vanderhaeghe

Guy Vanderhaeghe was born in Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, in 1951.

He is the author of four novels, My Present Age (1984), Homesick (1989), co-winner of the City of Toronto Book Award, The Englishman’s Boy (1996), winner of the Governor General’s Award for Fiction and the Saskatchewan Book Awards for Fiction and for Best Book of the Year, and a finalist for The Giller Prize and the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and, most recently, The Last Crossing (2002), a long-time national bestseller and winner of the Saskatoon Book Award, the Saskatchewan Book Awards for Fiction and for Book of the Year, and the Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award for Fiction Book of the Year, and a regional finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book. The Last Crossing was the winner of CBC Radio’s Canada Reads 2004. It was also a selection for the BBC’s television program Page Turners.

He is also the author of three collections of short stories, Man Descending (1982), winner of the Governor’s General’s Award and the Faber Prize in the U.K., The Trouble With Heroes (1983), and Things As They Are (1992).

Photo by Margaret Vanderhaeghe

Guy Vanderhaeghe was born in Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, in 1951.

He is the author of four novels, My Present Age (1984), Homesick (1989), co-winner of the City of Toronto Book Award, The Englishman’s Boy (1996), winner of the Governor General’s Award for Fiction and the Saskatchewan Book Awards for Fiction and for Best Book of the Year, and a finalist for The Giller Prize and the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and, most recently, The Last Crossing (2002), a long-time national bestseller and winner of the Saskatoon Book Award, the Saskatchewan Book Awards for Fiction and for Book of the Year, and the Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award for Fiction Book of the Year, and a regional finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book. The Last Crossing was the winner of CBC Radio’s Canada Reads 2004. It was also a selection for the BBC’s television program Page Turners.

He is also the author of three collections of short stories, Man Descending (1982), winner of the Governor’s General’s Award and the Faber Prize in the U.K., The Trouble With Heroes (1983), and Things As They Are (1992).

Photo by Margaret Vanderhaeghe

We're sorry, but we couldn't find any translators matching your search. Please try using different keywords or check back later as we regularly update our collection.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Country
Canada
Original Language
English
Publisher
McClelland & Stewart

RELATED FEATURES

Video November 1 2024

2024 Dublin Literary Award Ceremony

2024 Dublin Literary Award Ceremony with broadcaster Rick O'Shea. Livestreamed from the International Literature Festival Dublin in Merrion Square Park on Thursday 23rd May 2024.
Audio June 11 2024

All About Books Podcast Features the 2024 Dublin Literary Award

Dublin City FM podcaster Katy Conneely spotlights the award.
Video June 5 2024

2024 Winners Mircea Cărtărescu & Sean Cotter in conversation

with Journalist Alex Clarke at the International Literature Festival Dublin.
Video May 31 2024

2024 Winner Ceremony Highlights

Author Mircea Cărtărescu & translator Sean Cotter presented with the DLA Award at ILFD.

STAY CONNECTED

Stay in touch and sign up to our newsletter to receive all the latest news and updates on the Dublin Literary Award.