The Adversary
A Novel
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The Adversary
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Narrated by:
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Mary Lewis
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By:
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Michael Crummey
About this listen
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 enjoyable and uncompromising, The Adversary is a masterful evocation of a lost time, and a shadowed mirror to our modern politics of grievance and retribution.
©2024 Michael Crummey (P)2024 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
ONE OF KIRKUS'S BEST BOOKS OF 2024
"Potent...[a] vibrant historical novel....By turns bawdy, violent, comic, and gruesome."—The New Yorker
"Ingeniously constructed and wound tight as a mainspring...Flawlessly crafted...A sinuous narrative in constant, elegant motion."—The Wall Street Journal
“The Adversary is a beautifully written, immensely powerful and subtly ingenious novel. Its greatest—which is to say, most monstrous—revelations are so discreetly offered that you could miss them; but when you realize them, they practically take your breath away."—The Washington Post
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What listeners say about The Adversary
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- C GAUDIO
- 12-09-24
Meandering
Meandering storyline with characters difficult to like because they seem as opaque as their weather
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 05-15-24
An excellent performance…an excellent tale.
This book takes one back to the hard scrabble unfair and cruel life of outport NL. I loved it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Armando Ojeda
- 06-27-24
The language and story line
The author writes crisply and authentically; one can place him/herself on the icy island and feel the intense emotions of the characters.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- CCD Teacher
- 10-12-24
A timeless story of the human condition
A snapshot of the human condition that could fit into any moment of the human history, past, present, and undoubtedly, future..
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Kathryn K. Sybilrud
- 04-24-24
Still not really sure what this was about
Well performed, but rather confusing. Maybe if I had read instead of listening it would have made more sense. Still have a lot of questions about a rather non compelling plot.
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