Description

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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.

About the Author

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AUSTIN DUFFY's debut novel This Living and Immortal Thing was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year and was runner-up for the McKitterick Prize. He is also the author of Ten Days, which was shortlisted for the Diverse Awards, and The Night Interns, which was an Irish Times bestseller. He is a practising medical oncologist and lives in Ireland with his wife and two children.

Praise For…

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“There comes a point in a hunger strike, remarks an IRA operative in Cross, when a body begins to smell, 'on account of the body starting to eat itself'. It's a deeply resonant image, and a powerful metaphor for what happens in the book's eponymous Northern Irish border town when the 1994 ceasefire forces it to make a reckoning with its violent past and uncertain future. It’s an intricately plotted game of cat and mouse where it's never clear who’ll turn out to be the cat and who the mouse - a novel which brings Austin Duffy's distinctive blend of black humour and moral seriousness to the literature of the Troubles.” - Carys Davies, author of Clear

"Cross is a portrait of an embattled community drilled in lying to itself, in justifying the unjustifiable and condoning the unconscionable. Austin Duffy has fashioned a thrillingly tense read out of a morality play, producing a novel of riveting clarity and international relevance for our turbulent times." - Claire Kilroy, author of Tenderwire