Megan Giddings returns with her most ambitious work yet, weaving a tapestry of loss, love, and otherworldly possibility that challenges both our understanding of family bonds and the nature of reality itself. Meet Me at the Crossroads stands as a testament to Giddings’ evolving mastery of speculative fiction, offering readers a profound meditation on grief wrapped in the ethereal beauty of interdimensional mystery.
A Portal to Pain and Possibility
The premise is deceptively simple yet devastatingly effective: seven mysterious doors appear across the world, leading to realms that promise paradise but deliver uncertainty. When twin sisters Ayanna and Olivia witness one such door materializing in their Midwestern soybean fields, their lives fracture in ways that echo far beyond the supernatural. Giddings transforms what could have been a straightforward portal fantasy into something far more complex—a psychological excavation of survivor’s guilt, familial dysfunction, and the impossible mathematics of love.
The opening sequence, where both sisters impulsively enter the door to a meadow world of indigo grass and silver mountains, establishes the book’s central tension with breathtaking efficiency. Ayanna emerges alone, forever haunted by the question of Olivia’s fate, while readers are thrust into a narrative that refuses easy categorization between science fiction, horror, and literary fiction.
Character Development That Cuts Deep
Giddings’ greatest strength lies in her character work, particularly in her portrayal of Ayanna’s journey through grief. The protagonist emerges as refreshingly flawed—neither entirely sympathetic nor wholly reliable. Her relationship with her fundamentalist mother Opal creates some of the novel’s most emotionally resonant moments, particularly as both women grapple with blame and the need for absolution.
The supporting cast feels lived-in rather than constructed. Jane, Ayanna’s college friend with her provocative t-shirts (“I EAT WHAT I F*CK”), provides both comic relief and genuine emotional grounding. Felix and Stephen, her male friends, are rendered with a rare authenticity that avoids both toxic masculinity and unrealistic sensitivity. These relationships serve as anchor points in Ayanna’s increasingly unstable world, where spirits manifest and reality bends at the edges.
Olivia herself, despite her absence, remains vibrantly present throughout the narrative. Giddings achieves the difficult task of making the missing twin feel like a fully realized character through Ayanna’s memories and their shared history. Their relationship—marked by both deep love and the inevitable friction of twinhood—serves as the emotional core that drives every page.
Thematic Complexity and Cultural Resonance
The novel operates on multiple thematic levels simultaneously. On its surface, it’s a genre-bending exploration of parallel dimensions and supernatural phenomena. Dig deeper, and it becomes a meditation on Black identity in Midwestern America, religious faith versus spiritual seeking, and the ways trauma reshapes our understanding of reality.
Giddings doesn’t shy away from difficult conversations about race, class, and belonging. Ayanna’s family’s participation in Pathsong—a fictional progressive religion that embraces uncertainty as sacred—provides fascinating commentary on Black spirituality outside traditional Christianity. The tension between Ayanna’s father’s academic approach to faith and her mother’s fundamentalist certainty creates a religious landscape that feels both specific and universal.
The author’s treatment of mental health deserves particular praise. Ayanna’s depression, anxiety, and possible PTSD are rendered with careful attention to their daily reality rather than romanticized suffering. Her use of golden pills to achieve temporary oblivion speaks to contemporary struggles with self-medication and the search for respite from overwhelming grief.
Literary Craftsmanship and Style
Giddings’ prose has evolved considerably since Lakewood and The Women Could Fly. Here, she achieves a delicate balance between lyrical beauty and narrative urgency. Her descriptions of the otherworld meadows—with their “cerulean and indigo and navy landscape” and “silver mountains”—create vivid sensory experiences without becoming overly precious.
The novel’s structure, divided into distinct parts with “Interstitial” sections, allows Giddings to experiment with perspective and voice. These brief interludes, written from the point of view of spirits or universal forces, provide cosmic context without overwhelming the intimate human story at the novel’s heart.
Areas Where the Vision Falters
While Meet Me at the Crossroads succeeds on many levels, it occasionally stumbles under the weight of its own ambitions. The middle section, focusing on Ayanna’s college years, sometimes feels disconnected from the supernatural elements that drive the plot. Certain subplots—particularly Ayanna’s romantic entanglements—lack the depth and development of her primary relationships.
The novel’s exploration of the spirit world, while thematically rich, occasionally ventures into territory that feels more confusing than mysterious. Some readers may find the supernatural elements insufficiently explained, though this ambiguity appears intentional rather than accidental.
The pacing becomes uneven in places, particularly during Ayanna’s extended periods of depression and drug use. While these sections serve important thematic purposes, they sometimes slow the narrative momentum in ways that test reader patience.
Genre Innovation and Broader Context
Giddings continues to push against genre boundaries in ways that expand the possibilities of speculative fiction. Like her previous works, Meet Me at the Crossroads uses fantastical elements to explore very real social and psychological terrain. The mysterious doors serve as both literal plot devices and metaphors for the thresholds we all must cross in processing loss and change.
The novel sits comfortably alongside other works of Afrofuturist and speculative fiction by authors like N.K. Jemisin, Nnedi Okorafor, and Octavia Butler, while maintaining Giddings’ distinctive voice and concerns. Her focus on Midwestern Black experience provides representation often absent from genre fiction, grounding otherworldly events in specific geographical and cultural contexts.
Technical Elements and Narrative Choices
The decision to center the story on twins proves brilliant, allowing Giddings to explore themes of identity, connection, and loss with particular intensity. The supernatural elements never feel gratuitous but serve the emotional journey at the story’s heart. The author’s background in literary fiction serves her well here, bringing psychological depth to what could have been a purely plot-driven narrative.
The novel’s treatment of religion and spirituality deserves special mention. Rather than dismissing faith or embracing it uncritically, Giddings presents a complex landscape where multiple belief systems coexist and conflict. This nuanced approach elevates the material beyond simple genre entertainment.
Recommended Reading for Genre Fans
Readers who appreciate Meet Me at the Crossroads should consider exploring:
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin – for its blend of family trauma and world-ending events
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor – for its African-inspired speculative elements and coming-of-age themes
The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling – for psychological horror in fantastical settings
The Water Will Come by Jeff Goodell – for environmental themes present in Giddings’ work
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler – for its exploration of faith, community, and survival
Final Verdict
Meet Me at the Crossroads represents a significant achievement in contemporary speculative fiction. While it occasionally stumbles under the weight of its ambitious scope, Giddings has created a work that operates successfully on multiple levels—as genre fiction, literary exploration, and cultural commentary.
The novel’s greatest strength lies in its emotional honesty. Ayanna’s journey through grief feels authentic and earned, never manipulative or overly sentimental. Giddings refuses to offer easy answers about loss, family, or the nature of reality, instead creating space for readers to grapple with these questions alongside her protagonist.
For readers willing to embrace ambiguity and complexity, Meet Me at the Crossroads offers rich rewards. It’s a book that lingers in the mind long after the final page, raising questions about love, loss, and the mysterious doors we all must choose whether to walk through in our own lives. Giddings has solidified her position as one of the most important voices in contemporary speculative fiction, creating work that both entertains and challenges in equal measure.