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Title details for Cross by Austin Duffy - Available

Cross

by Austin Duffy
ebook
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1 of 1 copy available

1994, the summer of the ceasefire. In the Northern Irish border town of Cross, after decades of violent activity protesting British rule, a community plays out its end game.
Francie, a principled elder of the cause, has authorised the murder of a policeman; his teenage henchmen are triumphant at pulling it off. In the town square, the Widow Donnelly protests because her son has gone missing. Young Cathy Murphy, the daughter of a Protestant, is trying to find her place among a people who ignore her. And pathological Handy Byrne, whose marksmanship makes him a valuable weapon, is out of control. Meanwhile, paranoia is growing because operations are beginning to go wrong. The townsfolk suspect a tout, but no one is willing to accept the evidence before their eyes.
From its dramatic first chapter, Cross is an extraordinary evocation of the loyalties and divisions within a town governed by its own variety of law, where violence is rewarded and complicity is second nature. It is a complex tale of betrayal and brutality at the height of the Troubles, a moving, powerful and empathetic lament for a community that has lost its way in its battle for the nation.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    July 4, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781803510859

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781803510859
      • File size: 384 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from October 14, 2024
      Duffy (The Night Interns) impresses with a stunning story of political intrigue in 1994 Northern Ireland. Francie, an elder IRA middleman, is respected for his grasp of the goings-on around his town, making him the ideal handler for a chaotic group of teenage boys tasked with murder. Authorized to kill a British policeman, they complete the mission and show up at the local pub, gloating. Francie quiets them, then gets called to visit his boss, Nailer, a farmer on the edge of town. Nailer wants to discuss the Widow Donnelly, who’s become a nuisance after staging a hunger strike following the disappearance of her son, a suspected informant. What follows is a slow unraveling of the motivations and aims of IRA soldiers, their families, local politicians, and other supporters of the Republican cause, with surprising revelations and dire consequences for those involved. Duffy’s expert plotting is topped only by his atmospheric prose, which is often freighted with a sense of foreboding (“a wild near gale of a night but no rain surprisingly and the air itself was as warm as fumes”). This dazzles. Agent: Faith O’Grady, Lisa Richards Agency.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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