Book cover of The Adversary

Book description

An enthralling novel about the corruption of power and the power of corruption from one of our greatest writers, the award-winning, bestselling author of THE INNOCENTS (Extraordinary”—Wall Street Journal)

"A FLAWLESSLY CRAFTED NARRATIVE" —Wall Street Journal

"MASTERPIECE" —Publisher's Weekly (Starred Review)

"CEASELESSLY ENTERTAINING" —Kirkus (Starred Review)

"ONE OF OUR BEST…

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Why read it?

3 authors picked The Adversary as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The characters of the brother and sister in this book are oppositional and yet very similar in their self-absorption, making it a universal theme rather than just a historic dip into the rich texture of Newfoundland.

I would read anything Michael Crummey writes -- including the copy on a cereal box.

I absolutely loved this book. Michael Crummy is an incredibly clear writer and tells an incredibly clear and compelling story about life in a Newfoundland outport (Mockbeggar) in the 1800s, focusing on a sibling rivalry between merchants, the widow Caine, and her brother Abel Strapp.

Life there is hasty, brutish, and short. The descriptions of daily life, including violence, made everyone in our book club squirm. But what I liked most was that he takes the reader right to Mockbeggar (and its neighbour, Nonsuch) - within a page or two, you feel like you are inside a church in Mockbeggar.…

If you love The Adversary...

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December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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