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Border Crossing
Border Crossing
Dec 30, 2025 1:50 AM

Author:Pat Barker

Border Crossing

An unflinching novel on the nature of evil from the Booker Prize-winning and Women's Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the Girls

'Rich, surprising, breathtaking' The Times

'A tremendous piece of writing, sad and terrifying. It keeps you reading, exhausted and blurry-eyed, until 2am' Independent on Sunday

'Barker probes not only the mysteries of 'evil' but society's horrified and incoherent response to it' Guardian

'Brilliantly crafted. Unflinching yet sensitive, this is a dark story expertly told' Daily Mail

When Tom Seymour, a child psychologist, plunges into a river to save a young man from drowning, he unwittingly reopens a chapter from his past he'd hoped to forget. For Tom already knows Danny Miller. When Danny was ten Tom helped imprison him for the killing of an old woman. Now out of prison with a new identity, Danny has some questions - questions he thinks only Tom can answer.

Reluctantly, Tom is drawn back into Danny's world - a place where the border between good and evil, innocence and guilt is blurred and confused. But when Danny's demands on Tom become extreme, Tom wonders whether he has crossed a line of his own - and in crossing it, can he ever go back?

Reviews

'A master of both his period and of the English language'

—— Patrick O'Brian

'A swashbuckling yarn...If Errol Flynn was still alive, there'd be a movie here'

—— Bournemouth Daily Echo

[The] friendship that develops between the unemotional retired miner and the damaged youngster is simply touching, rather like the whole of this gentle novel

—— The Times

Packs an emotional punch

—— Independent

Undeniably seductive

—— Sunday Times

Joe Keenan has put the 'high' back into high jinks. His send-ups of criminal noveaux riches are biting and dead on - and his dialogue is refreshingly effervescent.

—— New York Times

One of the funniest writers alive.

—— David Leavitt

A poignant tale of life, love and loss

—— Mirror

Traditional, light-hearted romantic fiction at its best

—— Literary Review

Poignant and humorous

—— Now

A buoyant tale that will have you laughing and crying from start to finish

—— Woman's Journal

The twists and turns in the plot will leave you dizzy

—— New Woman

The story is original and the suspense is skilfully built. An infuriatingly enjoyable feel-good read

—— The List

An engaging and original plot

—— New Statesman
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