THE SUNDAY TIMES HISTORICAL NOVEL OF THE YEAR
THE INSTANT IRISH TIMES BESTSELLER
PICKED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN, NEW STATESMAN, OBSERVER, IRISH TIMES, INDEPENDENT, IRISH INDEPENDENT, IRISH EXAMINER, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, SCOTSMAN, THE TIMES AND ECONOMIST
AN i-PAPER AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK TO READ THIS SUMMER
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 WALTER SCOTT PRIZE

'An absolute belter of a book' ANNE ENRIGHT

He was ready to die for love. He just needed to find the right girl.

October, 1891. Tom Rourke is a poet struggling to make a life amongst the Irish migrant workers in Butte, Montana. He is a doper and a drinker and a fearsome degenerate. His life is heading nowhere fast. That is until he meets Polly Gillespie, the new bride of a devout mine captain, and a thunderbolt love affair takes spark.

Tom and Polly strike out west on a stolen horse. But a posse of deranged Cornish gunsmen are in hot pursuit of the lovers, and closing in fast . . .

"A violent, extravagant adventure set in 1890s Montana . . . [Barry's] thrilling best" - * The Times *

"A glorious book with all the heart and excitement of a classic Western, couched in the mixture of lyrical style and offbeat comedy that has become Barry's trademark" - * Daily Telegraph *