The Abstainer

A 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.

About the Author

Ian McGuire grew up near Hull and studied at the University of Manchester and the University of Virginia, USA. In 2007 he co-founded the University of Manchester's Centre for New Writing. He is the author of Incredible Bodies and the 2016 Man Booker-longlisted novel, The North Water. The Abstainer is his third novel.