Cross
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A masterful tale of betrayal and violence in a tight-knit community in Northern Ireland during the last days of the Troubles, from an acclaimed Irish writer making their US debut . . .
1994, the summer leading up to the ceasefire between Britain and the IRA. 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 hardened yet troubled IRA man, has authorized the murder of a policeman by two teenaged henchmen. The Widow Donnelly protests in the town square because her son has gone missing. Young Cathy Murphy, a Protestant, is trying to find her place among a people who ignore her. And pathological Handy Byrnes, 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.
Cross is a complex tale of betrayal and brutality at the height of the Troubles, a powerful, moving, and empathetic lament for a community that has lost its way in its battle for the nation.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
