Ian McGuire – författare

A breathtaking and cinematic novel about the lust for gold and its bloody consequences, set in the unforgiving landscape of the sub-Arctic Canadian wilderness, from the acclaimed author of The North Water‘Like The North Water, with which it shares much DNA, White River Crossing moves at a propulsive lick, its bloody meat marbled with cruelty and violence. McGuire does not let us look away: the clumsy amputation of a gangrenous arm is described in almost voluptuous detail, while the desolate beauty of the vast landscape is summoned with a sharp precision’ Guardian‘McGuire can construct an enthralling narrative, while sensitively handling the upheavals caused by colonial arrogance and overreach. His characterization can also be masterly. [..] An expertly told thriller that’s also a classic colonial adventure story’ Telegraph‘Like Hilary Mantel in her Wolf Hall trilogy, McGuire achieves a cinematic intimacy’ SpectatorA ragged fur peddler arrives at a remote outpost of the Hudson Bay Company in the winter of 1766 with a lump of gold, claiming that there is plenty more like it further north at a place called Ox Lake. The outpost’s chief factor, Magnus Norton, dreams of instant riches and launches a secret and perilous expedition to find the treasure and bring it back.Led by a family of native guides, the party of prospectors includes Norton’s brutish deputy, John Shaw, and Thomas Hearn, the insular and intellectual first mate from the factory’s whaling sloop. During their long journey north, Shaw’s callousness and arrogance lead him to commit an act of sexual violence whose disastrous consequences will only fully emerge once they reach their final destination. There, amidst the bleak beauty of the Barren Grounds, as Norton’s carefully crafted plans begin to fall apart and the brutal arctic winter starts to descend, Hearn is forced to make a choice that will define his character and determine his future forever.Utterly captivating, White River Crossing transports us back to the furthest edges of the eighteenth-century British empire where two radically different worlds—indigenous and European—collide with calamitous and deadly results.

A breathtaking and cinematic novel about the lust for gold and its bloody consequences, set in the unforgiving landscape of the sub-Arctic Canadian wilderness, from the acclaimed author of The North WaterA ragged fur peddler arrives at a remote outpost of the Hudson's Bay Company in the winter of 1766 with a lump of gold, claiming that there is plenty more like it further north at a place called Ox Lake. The outpost’s chief factor, Magnus Norton, dreams of instant riches and launches a secret and perilous expedition to find the treasure and bring it back.Led by a family of native guides, the party of prospectors includes Norton’s brutish deputy, John Shaw, and Thomas Hearn, the insular and intellectual first mate from the factory’s whaling sloop. During their long journey north, Shaw’s callousness and arrogance lead him to commit an act of sexual violence whose disastrous consequences will only fully emerge once they reach their final destination. There, amidst the bleak beauty of the Barren Grounds, as Norton’s carefully crafted plans begin to fall apart and the brutal arctic winter starts to descend, Hearn is forced to make a choice that will define his character and determine his future forever.Utterly captivating, White River Crossing transports us back to the furthest edges of the eighteenth-century British empire where two radically different worlds—indigenous and European—collide with calamitous and deadly results.

NOW A MAJOR BBC TV SERIES STARRING COLIN FARRELL, JACK O'CONNELL AND STEPHEN GRAHAMA ship sets sail with a killer on board . . .1859. A man joins a whaling ship bound for the Arctic Circle. Having left the British Army with his reputation in tatters, Patrick Sumner has little option but to accept the position of ship's surgeon on this ill-fated voyage. But when, deep into the journey, a cabin boy is discovered brutally killed, Sumner finds himself forced to act. Soon he will face an evil even greater than he had encountered at the siege of Delhi, in the shape of Henry Drax: harpooner, murderer, monster . . . 'A tour de force' Hilary Mantel'Riveting and darkly brilliant' Colm Tóibín'One of my favourite books ever' Richard Osman

______________'Hugely entertaining' - The Times'A wincingly entertaining portrayal of academe with its pants down. And a reminder that when things are at their worst they're also at their funniest' - Liz Jensen'Covering familiar territory in this sardonic academic novel, McGuire wittily exposes his characters' pretensions and frustrations ... Outwitted and exploited at every step of the way, Gutman and his story are at once very funny and disconcertingly sad' - Sunday Times______________Thirty-something Morris Gutman is a chronically indecisive temporary lecturer at the University of Coketown. Life hasn't turned out as he planned: he has a demanding wife, an insomniac child and teaches demeaning courses to ungrateful English students. However, he is willing to do whatever it takes to negotiate a permanent departmental job, even if it means finding his way through the minefield that is academia and winning over the alluring and manipulative research fellow Zoe Cable.

'Brilliant, fast paced, gripping. A tour de force of narrative tension and a masterful reconstruction of a lost world' - Hilary MantelA ship sets sail with a killer on board . . .1859. A man joins a whaling ship bound for the Arctic Circle. Having left the British Army with his reputation in tatters, Patrick Sumner has little option but to accept the position of ship's surgeon on this ill-fated voyage. But when, deep into the journey, a cabin boy is discovered brutally killed, Sumner finds himself forced to act. Soon he will face an evil even greater than he had encountered at the siege of Delhi, in the shape of Henry Drax: harpooner, murderer, monster . . . 'A tour de force' Hilary Mantel'Riveting and darkly brilliant' Colm Tóibín'One of my favourite books ever' Richard Osman

‘Truly terrific' Richard Ford'Dickens for the twenty-first century' Roddy Doyle'A powerful, gripping tale' Sunday TimesA man hanging on by a thread. A city about to snap.  From the acclaimed author of The North Water comes an epic story of revenge and obsession.  Manchester, 1867  Two men, haunted by their pasts.Driven by the need for justice.  Blood begets blood. In a fight for life and legacy.  Stephen Doyle arrives in Manchester from New York. He is an Irish-American veteran of the Civil War and a member of the Fenians, a secret society intent on ending British rule in Ireland, by any means necessary. Now he has come to seek vengeance.  James O'Connor has fled grief and drink in Dublin for a sober start in Manchester as Head Constable. His mission is to discover and thwart the Fenians’ plans. When his long-lost nephew arrives on his doorstep, he never could have foreseen how this would imperil his fragile new life – or how his and Doyle's fates would come to be intertwined.   The rebels will be hanged at dawn, and their brotherhood is already plotting revenge.  Praise for The North Water, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2016  ‘Brilliant, fast-paced, gripping. A tour de force of narrative tension and a masterful reconstruction of a lost world’ Hilary Mantel  ‘Utterly convincing and compelling… A startling achievement’ Martin Amis  ‘Riveting and darkly brilliant… McGuire has an extraordinary talent’ Colm Toibin  ‘Has exceptional power and energy’ Sunday Times  ‘A stunning novel that snares the reader from the outset and keeps the tightest grip until the bitter end’ Financial Times  ‘A vivid read, full of twists, turns, period detail and strong characters’ The Times  ‘Terrific – McGuire’s use of the pitiless, fearsomely beautiful Arctic landscape as a theatre for enduring questions is inspired’ Daily Mail  ‘McGuire has a sure and unwavering touch… a writer of exceptional craft and confidence’ Irish Times