'Has energy, empathy and a wickedly colourful way with words'
Guardian
 
'Authentic to the harshness of the world that Michael Crummey so brilliantly recreates'
The Times
 
'A vibrant historical novel... Potent'
New Yorker, Books of the Year
 
In a remote Newfoundland port settlement, ruthless company man Abe Strapp is set to secure his dominance over the shore and its rich resources by marrying the daughter of a rival merchant - until the Widow Caines stands up in church and throws the wedding and Abe's plans into chaos.
 
As the bitter feud between these two competitors - each determined to ruin the person they despise most - spirals further into vendetta and violence, the locals too are forced to take sides, with devastating consequences.

A compulsive, exuberant and uncompromising historical adventure to equal Deadwood or The North Water, The Adversary is a wildly entertaining evocation of power, grievance and retribution.