The Adversary - Dark yet Intriguing
There were times while reading this book I debated whether to continue. The Adversary is full of quirky characters, debauchery, and violence yet also includes acts of kindness and a sense of community. Michael Crummy sets the book on the coast of Newfoundland, Canada during the early to mid-1800s. The main characters, Abe Stabb and a women known as The Widow, own the two major fish warehouses. Each provide for the salting, storage, and exporting of locally caught fish along with the importation of people and goods. Not only are they business adversaries, each has much different views of supporting and growing the community. Overall, the book is dark yet there were times that I laughed out loud.

This book is not for me. I love this author's book, but couldn't get into this one at all. It is all too cruel and depressing for me to enjoy it. I will try the authors next one.

4,5

I love the reassuring feeling of being in the hands of a master storyteller, and Michael Crummey is definitely an outstanding one.

The Adversary tells the epic story of the rivalry between an incompetent, cruel and privileged brother (think Trump) and his brilliant, scheming sister, both vying for control over a 19th century Newfoundland trading post after their powerful father dies.

The opening scene, a marriage ceremony going off the rails, is fantastic and immediately creates a strong sense of place. The larger-than-life characters and the descriptions of life in the isolated trading post are so vivid that I felt completely transported.

I didn't know this writer (but some GR-friends warmly recommended him, thanks!), and often felt like I was reading a late 20th century sweeping historical novel, wondering if/why we don't see much of those anymore.

Michael Crummey's The Adversary is often compelling, but I read much of it at a bit of a remove. Driving a plot with vindictive siblings is a bit of a mixed blessing here because their rivalry can be entertaining, but since you don't like either of them you don't really have anything to hold onto as a reader. The end result is a book you respect a great deal more than you love, although I will be curious to read more of Crummey's work--which is certainly a mark in his favor.

The Adversary by Michael Crummey
Set in Newfoundland during brutal winters, this book tells the tale of a brother and sister battling for control of their coastal fishing and mercantile port in the late 1700s.

The story is violent and cruel which is at times hard to read. The characters are well-developed but so unlikeable it was difficult for me to choose to root for either of them (or the other characters for that matter).

The author does a fabulous job with his archaic language usage and descriptive prose which kept this vocabulary lover entranced in the book.

I am looking forward to reading more from Mr. Crummey. Thank you BookBrowse and NetGalley for pointing me toward this book and author.

Unlike every other novel by Michael Crummy that I've read, this novel felt over-weighted with narrative summary, with a central premise--competing capitalists--that had a more abstract conflict at its core than his other novels, all of which were deeply, existentially human..

I really wanted to enjoy this story, but it was extremely dark. While the characters were complex, it was hard to find a trait in each of them that made them likable, so it was hard for me to root for anyone. Crummey has a way with words that transport you to the setting, and it felt more like prose, which I enjoyed. I don't mind heavy books, but for this case, it was hard to find the light in it, which made it overall a tough read for me.

The Adversary by Michael Crummey is a dark historical fiction set in 18th century Newfoundland. It tells the story of the sibling rivalry and power struggle between Abe Strapp, owner of the inherited company C. Strapp & Son and his sister, referred to as the Widow Caines, owner of the company Caines Mercantile, which was obtained from her deceased husband.

There were many other characters incorporated into the story as well, but most were pretty much used as pawns and manipulated in a twisted game between the vindictive siblings. They were always using people or situations to further their conniving and narcissistic wants.

If you want a dark read with a sinister, dreary, and hopeless theme, this is it. It is definitely a mood. Think Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, or Edgar Allan Poe, but Canadian Gothic.

I love reading books with historic words and vocabulary incorporated into it, and this story had plenty of new words and phrases I was introduced to. The author did a lovely job with his descriptive writing, setting the tone, describing the surroundings, and portraying the characters.

Thank you to BookBrowse, Doubleday, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Adversary by Michael Crummey is a dark historical fiction set in 18th century Newfoundland. It tells the story of the sibling rivalry and power struggle between Abe Strapp, owner of the inherited company C. Strapp & Son and his sister, referred to as the Widow Caines, owner of the company Caines Mercantile, which was obtained from her deceased husband.

There were many other characters incorporated into the story as well, but most were pretty much used as pawns and manipulated in a twisted game between the vindictive siblings. They were always using people or situations to further their conniving and narcissistic wants.

If you want a dark read with a sinister, dreary, and hopeless theme, this is it. It is definitely a mood. Think Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, or Edgar Allan Poe, but Canadian Gothic.

I love reading books with historic words and vocabulary incorporated into it, and this story had plenty of new words and phrases I was introduced to. The author did a lovely job with his descriptive writing, setting the tone, describing the surroundings, and portraying the characters.

Thank you to BookBrowse, Doubleday, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the eARC of this title.**

I will preface my review by saying that historical fiction isn't one of my top genres, and that I am pressing myself to read more of it in 2024. I am rounding up to 3 stars for that reason, but even with this not being one of my normal genres, I struggled to get invested in any of the characters at all.

I know these characters in The Adversary were intentionally horrible, but really I just didn't feel anything except disgust towards most of the main characters. I didn't even connect with the "victim" in this book at all.

I did enjoy the writing and would be interested in checking out a different title from this author, unfortunately the story and pacing just didn't work for me at all.

Disturbing Tale about Sibling Rivalry

This was my first but not last book written by Michael Crummey. I plan to read The Innocents next to determine whether it will give me further insights into The Adversary. If you want a book where one or more of the main characters are likeable, you won't find it in this book. it is a dark tale set in rugged 18 century Newfoundland. It's offenses followed by counter-offenses with little compassion or caring for the damage caused. The people caught in the middle of the power struggle are who you root for in this book.

Set in Mockbeggar, Newfoundland roughly 200 years ago, Michael Crummey’s The Adversary focuses largely on the troubled relationship and intense rivalry between Abe Strapp and the Widow Caines, brother and sister, children of the deceased Cornelius Strapp, owner of Cornelius Strapp & Son. Cornelius Strapp’s daughter marries Elias Caines, a wealthy Quaker rival businessman with whom she plays an equal role, having learned the business working in her father’s company. Hard-drinking, philandering, easy-to-anger Abe Strapp, despite being the “Son” in Cornelius Strapp & Son, has never shown an interest in the business. Yet, in keeping with the custom, Cornelius bequeaths the business to Abe with the provision that he must first marry, a union that his father and the local Church of England Beadle, Abe’s godfather, hope will mend the younger Strapp’s dissolute ways.

The story opens as Abe finds himself in the position not only to get his inheritance, but also to expand his holdings by marrying Anna Morels, the older daughter of another rival, known as the Jerseyman and based in nearby Nonsuch. With no sons, the Jerseyman’s daughter Anna will eventually inherit her father’s business, enabling Abe Strapp to far surpass his sister’s wealth. When Abe arrives drunk for his wedding, the Widow Caines objects to the union in such a manner that the Jerseyman and his daughter exit the church before the ceremony can finish, thus ending Abe’s chance of uniting his business with the Jerseyman’s. However, Cornelius Strapp’s will stipulates only that Abe must marry, not who must be the bride.

Brother and sister find themselves the wealthiest people in town and the staunchest of rivals While following the ever increasing sibling rivalry and animosity, readers get to know the self-serving Beadle, an assortment of Abe Strapp’s henchmen, a group of criminals bought in England as indentured laborers before their transportation to Australia, the reclusive local midwife and healer, three young children who find their way into the Widow Caines employ, two of whom are son and daughter of Dallen Lambe, a man Abe killed. Readers will also encounter pandemics, natural disasters, ladies of the night, a gambling French sea captain, a mysterious corpse dressed in Puritan garb, Boston pirates, a vengeful former employee, and more. A bit of online research as one reads will reveal several nods to local East Newfoundland history.

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for an advance reader copy of this engrossing new novel from Newfoundland writer Michael Crummey. I found it difficult to put down.

I found myself engrossed in this novel, unable to put it down. My gratitude goes to Doubleday, and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review.

The narrative unfolds in the 18th-century fishing village of Mockbeggar, featuring three central adversaries. First, there's Abe Strapp, an utterly immoral dispenser of justice whose corruption seems intentionally reminiscent of a certain political figure. The second adversary is Abe's older sister, the Widow Caines, a Quaker distinguished by her peculiar habits, including wearing her deceased husband's clothing, her pet crow, and a sharp tongue. Their mutual disdain for each other is palpable. The third figure in this dynamic is The Anglican, a holier-than-thou Beadle, tightly linked to Abe Strapp.

The narrative is rife with captivating elements, including a dysfunctional sibling relationship, marauders, a depraved brothel, scalding scenes, amputations, public whippings, devastating storms, hypocritical religious leaders, a pandemic, and more. It's a dark exploration of corruption and ruthlessness, yet Crummey injects entertainment into some scenes, akin to the melodrama of an old evening soap opera like Dallas. The characters, though villainous, manage to simultaneously fascinate and repel readers, making it a cautionary tale on power dynamics relevant to contemporary society.

Is The Adversary Crummey's best novel yet? In my opinion, yes.

Not for the Faint-hearted

The Adversary, Canadian novelist Michael Crummey’s latest, is historical fiction in the same vein as the work of Hawthorne and Melville. Set in a remote fishing village on the north coast of Newfoundland in the late 1700s, the novel is impressively atmospheric, as its characters inexorably catapult toward a seemingly predetermined collision. Big philosophical questions abound. A brother-sister rivalry opens and closes the novel, an aborted wedding, funerals galore and the entire local community as collateral damage. The specter of death hovers over every character. If personal animosity is not enough, the community suffers from disastrous weather, rampant hunger, pandemic-worthy disease, lack of medical care, outlaw justice, fluctuating catches, an economic system similar to indentured labor or tenant farming. 

It is hard to rate a book like this. While I did not relish reading it, I greatly admired Crummey’s powers of description, his extensive use of local Newfoundland, sometimes even archaic language, and the dramatic insights into how people survive, for instance, with help from the local healer, an outlandish character I was always happy to see arrive.  Finally, I have to mention the amazing variety of sexual innuendo, attack and insult Crummey manages to preserve in this book, probably doubling my entire previous stock of such phrases. In fact, I actually had to laugh at some of them, despite the ambient horror.

I adore Michael Crummy, He is one of my favourite authors and the wait between books can seem interminable. That being said he does not write sunny, shiny novels, he writes about hardship, strife, conflict and darkness. His characters live in remote communities in Newfoundland, usually reliant on the fishing industry. The lifestyle is rough and danger is everywhere, from the elements, the work, and most importantly the people. Tough times means tough people, add in religion, superstition, the lack of true law and order, the lack of education and you are going to have danger, suspicion, fear and trauma.
This novel revolves around two wealthy siblings Abe Strapp and his sister, the Widow Caines, both of whom are truly horrible people. Abe is a true bully, a bully with power who answers to no one. His sister is more cunning and controlled. Their evil manifests itself very differently and the havoc they wreck upon one another as well as the rest of the community seems endless. The one person who could restore some sense of order, the Anglican Beadle Clinch, is as, if not more corrupt than anyone else. That leaves the rest of the townspeople at their mercy.

The story is compelling, I struggled to put down this book! I was usually reading with a sense of dread, so this is not a relaxing beach book! The writing is, as always, poetic and evocative. Crummy manages to make the reader feel as if they are truly in this small village, experiencing the cold, the sea, the hunger and the fear. No one will protect the helpless villagers, they must try to keep their heads down and avoid the wrath of Strapp or the machinations of the Widow. On top of the horrors of the humans are the natural elements; neither the sea nor the weather show any mercy. Outsiders are also a danger. It is a wonder anyone survives.
It all sounds very grim, but it is a most impressive, unforgettable novel, as are all of the offerings by Michael Crumm.y

If you’ve ever read Michael Crummey’s novels, you know you can expect a few things: a dark, ambiance-rich Newfoundland setting, quirky and superbly crafted characters, and stunningly written prose. In The Adversary, he outdoes himself. This is his best book yet.

Set in a small fishing village called Mockbeggar in the 18th century, there are really three adversaries here. One is Abe Strapp, a thoroughly immoral and corrupt dispenser of justice (who strongly resembles a certain political figure, which I believe is deliberate). The other: Abe’s older sister, the Widow Caines, a Quaker who is distinguished by her pipe and the donning of her dead husband’s clothing, her pet crow, and her sharp tongue. To say they despise each other is putting it mildly. The third person, The Anglican, holier-than-thou Beadle, who has yoked himself to Abe Strapp.

Don't expect any “likable” characters or redemption here. This is a series of offenses and counter-offenses, with vindictive and yet riveting characters, determined to triumph in controlling Caines Mercantile, uncaring about the wreckage they leave in their wake.

The novel has plenty to keep readers glued to the page: a sibling relationship that gives new meaning to dysfunction, invading marauders, Abe’s depraved brothel, scalding, amputations, public whippings, devastating storms, hypocritical religious leaders, a pandemic, and more. Yes, it’s a dark tale that focuses on corruption and ruthlessness. But Michael Crummey knows how to milk some of the scenes for entertainment. Think of the old evening soap opera Dallas. You get this: villainous characters who fascinate and repel the reader. It is also a cautionary tale on power dynamics, relevant for today.

I loved this novel and couldn’t tear myself away from it. I thank BookBrowse, Doubleday, and NetGalley for enabling me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review.

For as dark as this book is, I found that I couldn’t put it down. Set in an outpost in Newfoundland in the 1700s or 1800s (I never figured out the time period), it is primarily a story of sibling rivalry between two very powerful inhabitants. Because these two control most of the fishing industry/commerce in the area, the other inhabitants of the outpost are necessarily drawn into the feud; some willingly, but most unwillingly. There are vignettes about these characters as well and some are heartbreaking, but the focus is on the siblings. And they are both despicable, so you find yourself not really knowing who to root for in the battle. The book reads as if written in the 1700s/1800s, and the author uses many words unique to Newfoundland. The former took me several pages to become accustomed to, and I'm glad I had the patience to persevere because the particular writing style made the book all the better. The latter was a bit frustrating. If I could not figure out a word from context (e.g., slut lamp), I had to google it. I did a fair amount of googling. The Adversary is my first book by this author and I will likely read some of his other works.

“There was an exuberant air of relief about the outports and plantations on the shore and the Christmas festivities in Mockbeggar resumed the tradition of dismal anarchy they were known for.”

When reading the words put down by a poet one can be pretty sure each one is chosen with care. On this remote Newfoundland island voice and setting are melded. Whether it is a pledge, a commitment, or a threat, the words of these characters to and about one another are the backbone of this story as the harsh setting with its volatile weather creates the place. The Widow Caines and her deplorable brother Abe Strapp are the central characters in the dark and desolate island community as they fight to dominate one over the other.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger could certainly be the motto of the small community of Mockbeggar and its inhabitants as well. This atmospheric tale will creep up on you in all sorts of unexpected ways. Difficult to describe in a few words, this story has some wonderfully despicable characters, some random humor, a powerful setting, and an incredibly capable writer. It’s probably best suited for those who don’t mind going a little off the beaten path.

Thanks to @doubledaybooks #NetGalley and @BookBrowse for the #advancereaderscopy.

The Adversary by Michael Crummey is a gritty historical novel that takes place along the northern coast of Newfoundland in the late 18th Century. Told in lyrical prose, the story is about the everyday lives of the people in a small fishing community who endure storms and pandemics, pirates, food shortages, and the abuse of power wielded by the village’s self-appointed leader. This is not an easy book to read, as death and violence and hardship become additional characters in the narrative, but Crummey’s poetic writing makes the roughness and maddening helplessness less frustrating - a mark of talent in author, the ability to soften even difficult situations just enough to make them palatable. Difficult, but worth every word.

I no longer generally accept books from Netgalley or Edelweiss and stopped writing in-depth reviews quite a long time ago. I now only read for pleasure. However, when the publisher offered Michael Crummey's newest book, I just couldn't resist. I truly loved this author's last book "The Innocents" and couldn't pass up his newest work. But I'm sorry to say that I wish I had.

With "The Innocents", I was completely invested in the story and cared so much for the characters. I remember comparing it to Dickens' work. There was brilliant writing from the heart of a poet. I did not find that in Mr. Crummey's newest book. There were no characters that I grew to care about and I'm sure that was the author's intention. I struggled to find a grip that would pull me in but never really found it.

I've been reading glowing reviews and wondering just what it was that I missed. Possibly I just expected something different and went into it with the wrong expectations. Whatever the reason was, I can't recommend this book. My apologies to the author and publisher.

This book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review, which I have given.

I read 1/3 of this book before giving up.

I wanted to read this book based on the description. This book is well written. You can tell the author respects the craft of writing. The writing is descriptive and the story is well paced.

My interest in reading this had nothing to do with the writing style or storytelling, which as I said are good. The reason is put this down was because at 30% in I couldn’t find anyone I wanted to root for. I expected corrupt characters, but it didn’t seem like any of the key players in the book had any redeeming qualities and nothing they were working to overcome.