Bad Blood

Follow Colm Tóibín's lone religious pilgrimage along the Irish border during the tumultuous summer of 1987. In the summer after the Anglo-Irish Agreement, when tension was high in Northern Ireland, Colm Tóibín walked along the border from Derry to Newry. Bad Blood is a stark and evocative account of this journey through fear and hatred, and a report on ordinary life and the legacy of history in a bleak and desolate landscape. Tóibín describes the rituals - the marches, the funerals, the demonstrations - observed by both communities along the border, and listens to the stories which haunt both sides. With sympathy and insight Bad Blood captures the intimacy of life along one of the most contested strips of land in Western Europe. Now part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.

Colm Tóibín is the author of eleven novels, including The Master, Brooklyn and its sequel Long Island, and The Magician, and three collections of stories. He has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Tóibín was appointed the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024.