Both sprawling and circular, CROSSINGS is an unforgettable adventure full of love, longing, and empathy, perfect for our troubled times

CROSSINGS
by Alex Landragin
Saint Martin’s Press, Spring 2020

On a Polynesian island in the 17th Century, two lovers, Koahu and Alula, who have the ability to selectively inhabit other people’s bodies are separated when Koahu crosses into a French sailor’s body and fails to cross back before it’s too late. To stay with him, Alula also decides to stay in a foreigner’s body and set sail for Europe, but before she knows it, Koahu is gone. They journey through 18th-century Paris, inhabiting the likes of Charles Baudelaire, Walter Benjamin, and Coco Chanel, and longing to reunite while a sinister killer chases them across history, cutting out the eyes of his victims, in this genre-bending adventure for fans of Cloud Atlas.
This meticulously structured novel can be read two ways: either straight through or according to an alternate chapter sequence. The effect is a brilliant parallel to the novel’s themes of migration, gender identity and the complexities of time

Alex Landragin is a French-Armenian-Australian writer. He was born in Épernay, France, into a family of champagne makers, and migrated to Australia as a child. Alex has previously worked as a travel writer for Lonely Planet, authoring travel guides in Australia, Europe and Africa. His travel journalism and essays have appeared in The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald and the Los Angeles Review of Books. Alex currently resides in Melbourne, Australia, and has also lived in Washington DC, Paris, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Alice Springs and Marseille.