"This penetrating, intense, and powerful coming-of-age novel set in California about platonic friendship between two young people, is a thing of beauty."
Emotionally astute, with an exquisitely intense sense of awareness of the fragility of the human mind and body, this novel explores friendship, poverty, and ambition. Tamma and Dan, in their final year of High School in California, live to rock climb, pushing themselves into extreme situations in the hope of a future in climbing.
It feels as though the author, Gabriel Tallent, writes for himself, yet his power lies in being able to take you with him, essentially a deep-dive into an incredibly immersive experience. His devastatingly beautiful debut My Absolute Darling had a huge impact on me when I read it back in 2017, it hung my emotions out to dry and I can still remember how it made me feel.
Crux, his second novel published eight years later, took me in a different direction and yet the style of writing is immediately recognisable and he has the most wonderful ability to bring a character to vibrantly intimate life. While the sport could be seen as a third character here and love letter to the world of rock climbing, it sits as a base into which these two young people struggle to understand their past, present, and future.
The characters are everything, they evoke emotion, and for me existed beyond the page. The descriptions of the landscape, of the rocks climbed, of the sport, give an immediate access even if it is unknown to you. I loved this in an entirely different way to his first novel, yet it is just as readable, just as powerful, and so as well as a Liz Pick of the Month, this also joins our LoveReading Star Books.
Provocative and intense, Crux is a beautiful coming-of-age novel featuring the friendship of a young woman and man living with ambition in emotional and financial poverty.
A heartstopping story of friendship, thrill-seeking and defying expectations: the explosive second novel from the bestselling author of My Absolute Darling
| Primary Genre | Literary Fiction |
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A heartstopping story of friendship, thrill-seeking and defying expectations: the explosive second novel from the bestselling author of My Absolute DarlingDan and Tamma are two Californian teenagers growing up dirt poor in the shadows of the Joshua Tree National Park, one of the world's great rock climbing meccas. Their mothers had once been teenage waitresses and best friends until their paths diverged.
Crux features in the following genres: Book Club Recommendations, Liz Robinson's Picks of the Month, Recommendations, Star Books, Literary Fiction, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Narrative theme: Social issues, Climbing and mountaineering, Literary Fiction, Narrative theme: Coming of age, Narrative theme: Sense of place
Paperback, Hardback. £17.09, down from the £18.99 cover price. In Stock.
Crux was written by Gabriel Tallent and published by Fig Tree an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd
Crux has 352 pages
£17.09, reduced from £18.99. In Stock.
