CROSSROADS

A GUARDIAN BEST FICTION BOOK OF 2021AN INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE YEARSet in a historical moment of moral crisis Crossroads is the stunning foundation of a sweeping investigation of human mythologies as the Hildebrandt family navigate the political and social crosscurrents of the past fifty yearsA WHITE REVIEW BOOK OF THE YEARA LIT HUB BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR‘His best novel yet … A Middlemarch-like triumph’ Telegraph‘Crossroads is the spiritual successor to The Corrections . . . It is a testament to Franzen’s authorial habits of empathy his curiosity about the lives of others his efforts in a land of cliche to add twists to easy assumptions that you are likely to find yourself caring about how things turn out for each of the Hildebrandts equally’ ObserverIt’s December 23 1971 and heavy weather is forecast for Chicago. Russ Hildebrandt the associate pastor of a liberal suburban church is on the brink of breaking free of a marriage he finds joyless – unless his wife Marion who has her own secret life beats him to it. Their eldest child Clem is coming home from college on fire with moral absolutism having taken an action that will shatter his father. Clem’s sister Becky long the social queen of her high-school class has sharply veered into the counterculture while their brilliant younger brother Perry who’s been selling drugs to seventh-graders has resolved to be a better person. Each of the Hildebrandts seeks a freedom that each of the others threatens to complicate.Jonathan Franzen’s novels are celebrated for their unforgettably vivid characters and their keen-eyed take on the complexities of contemporary America. Now for the first time in Crossroads Franzen explores the history of a generation. With characteristic humour and complexity and with even greater warmth he conjures a world that feels no less immediate.A tour de force of interwoven perspectives and sustained suspense Crossroads is the story of a Midwestern family at a historical moment of moral crisis. Jonathan Franzen’s gift for melding the small picture and the big picture has never been more dazzlingly evident.