The Adversary A Novel
The Adversary by Michael Crummey is a novel published by Random House on January 14, 2025, featuring 336 pages in English. This work presents a narrative set in an isolated outport on Newfoundland’s northern coastline, where Abe Strapp’s impending marriage to a rival merchant’s daughter is disrupted by the arrival of the Widow Caines. This disruption ignites a fierce conflict between two powerful figures in the community, leading to escalating vendettas that divide the town and impact the lives of its residents.
Readers will find a story that explores themes of power and corruption, as the animosity between Abe and the Widow Caines spirals into violence and revenge. The novel delves into the struggles of the community amidst harsh seasons, storms, and other challenges, ultimately revealing the complexities of human relationships and the unpredictable nature of conflict. The Adversary offers a vivid portrayal of family life and the dynamics of sibling rivalry, reflecting on the broader implications of grievance and retribution in society.
Official synopsis Publisher
LONGLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD
An enthralling novel about the corruption of power and the power of corruption from the award-winning, bestselling author of The Innocents
“POTENT…A VIBRANT HISTORICAL NARRATIVE”—The New Yorker
“A FLAWLESSLY CRAFTED NARRATIVE” —Wall Street Journal
“MASTERPIECE” —Publisher’s Weekly (Starred Review)
“CEASELESSLY ENTERTAINING” —Kirkus (Starred Review)
“ONE OF OUR BEST WRITERS” —Booklist (Starred Review)
In an isolated outport on Newfoundland’s northern coastline, Abe Strapp is about to marry the daughter of a rival merchant to cement his hold on the shore when the Widow Caines arrives to throw the wedding and Abe’s plans into chaos.
That ruthless act of sabotage is the opening salvo in a battle between the man and woman who own Mockbeggar’s largest mercantile firms, each fighting for the scarce resources of the north Atlantic fishery, each seeking a measure of revenge on the person they despise most in the world. As their unshakeable animosity spirals further each year into vendettas and violence, the community is increasingly divided and even the innocents in Mockbeggar find themselves forced to take sides, with devastating consequences.
Through merciless seasons of uncertainty and want, through predatory storms and pandemics and marauding privateers, it is the human heart that reveals itself to be the most formidable and unpredictable adversary for each person drawn, inevitably and helplessly, into that endless feud.
Compulsively readable and uncompromising, The Adversary is a masterful evocation of a lost time, and a shadowed mirror to our modern politics of grievance and retribution.
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