Crossed Lines

When her mother offers Rose a Mediterranean cruise with her two children, she jumps at the chance to get away from her husband who drinks too much, and the renovations of their holiday house in the south. But one night the cruise ship comes upon a shipwrecked boat full of refugees, who are taken aboard. Without telling her teenage son, Rose gives his mobile phone to a young Nigerian refugee. Does she want to be some kind of a hero, ease her conscience? Now what is she in for? The secret phone connection takes Rose and her family on a journey of discovery.

With her trademark wit and acid intelligence, Marie Darrieussecq, like Rachel Cusk or Jenny Offill, shines a light on issues of individual responsibility in our complex world.

‘What a ride! Marie Darrieussecq courses through dark places with such buoyant energy that you emerge exhilarated.’ Helen Garner

‘Darrieussecq has a force of clarity, an ability to take herself seriously without the need for self-deprecation. She is always original, always thrilling.’ Australian

‘No other author writes about being a mother as intensely and as precisely as Marie Darrieussecq…This is the story of a woman asking herself how she can be in some way honourable in the face of the world’s absurdity…Written with compassion and humour, and with no moral other than that of giving meaning to one’s existence.’ Elle

‘Crossed Lines is a wonderful novel, one of those books that never leaves you, which you remember with absolute clarity. It is a perfect work of fiction, giving you the happy sensation of recognition.’ Charlie Hebdo