Section 4 "Somewhere in England" Summary

As in the beginning, Crossing the River ends with a novella, this one in the voice of a young woman in rural England during the build-up to and duration of World War II. The young woman's name is Joyce, although the name is not revealed until near the end of the work, and she tells her story as if writing in a journal. Most of the action takes place in an English village and nearby town, neither of which is ever named. As with the first novella, "The Pagan Coast," the action flits back and forth between years, rather than proceeding in a strict chronological fashion. Thus, the reader first sees what was and then what eventually becomes, before learning the details that connect the two.

June 1942: The novella begins with the arrival of a...