Ariel's Crossing

I found Ariel's Crossing difficult to put down. In fact, I skipped Morrow's reading in New York for fear of something being revealed that I had not yet learned. Not only does Morrow tell a fascinating, multi-layered story, he creates wonderful characters. I was struck with the realization mid-way through the book that I really LIKED all the characters (except David, but that is his own fault), not so common an experience. Which is not to say that they are some kind of exemplars, they are ordinary, flawed human beings who make mistakes, but grow; people who I could care about.

I have been waiting for this book for five years, and it is so worth the wait! I fell in love with Morrow's "Giovanni's Gift" and went on to read everything I could get my hands on, and my favorite was "Trinity Fields", which is the sister book to "Ariel's Crossing". But now that I've read "Ariel's Crossing", it tops my list. Ariel is a wonderful, inspiring young woman whose journey to self-discovery, through some amazing yet completely believable twists of fate, so often resonates for me personally. I also love Franny (aka Mary), who discovers herself by simply re-inventing herself as someone else, and Sarah Montoya, the wise mother who guides her whole family (adopted and otherwise) with wry intelligence. (Not to mention Francisca, the ghost whose very presence seems to make a place home.) Also, Morrow's use of language is sublime---so rich and lush---and yet, unlike so many writers, it enhances his storytelling rather than interfering with it. You really *live* with these characters, you feel like you're walking through the landscapes with them---you're right there on horseback with Ariel when she---but I won't blow it for you--you've got to read this book!

I heard Morrow read last week and bought Ariel's Crossing, and couldn't put this brilliant novel down. He's a great reader and if you have the opportunity to hear him, I suggest that you take it. Not only does Ariel's Crossing ask the most important and troubling questions about the effects of our current nuclear age and its atomic history, but it intelligently explores a woman's search for self and family. How many novels do that? The spiritual center of Ariel's Crossing is stunningly beautiful, compelling, enriching. Reading it is a personal journey into the badlands and beneficence of the human soul.

Ariel Rankin grew up in Manhattan thinking that Brice McCarthy was her father. However, recently the Manhattan publisher has learned that Brice is not her biological father, but that Kip Calder had sired her. Stunned with the truth, and single and pregnant, Ariel decides to meet Kip.In the 1960s Kip impregnated his girlfriend Jessica and fled to Southeast Asia where he became a spy. Brice, irate with his best friend for what he did to Jessica, stepped in and married her, helping her raise Ariel. Now Kip is back home in New Mexico, nearing death and wants to meet his daughter. However, instead of waiting for her, Kip decides to finish his life with one last quest. He is helping widower Delfino Montoya to reclaim the ranch the Feds snatched from her family for those notorious tests in the proving ground. ARIEL'S CROSSING is a deep relationship drama filled with numerous subplots that draw from the divergent culture that the Manhattan Project and subsequent nuclear research brought to New Mexico. The story line is action packed though some of the secondary threads take away from the prime theme. Still readers will feel mesmerized as the characters take the audience on a tour of the Land of Enchantment including the pits rarely seen by anyone who is not a Lobo or an Aggie.Harriet Klausner