This Side of Brightness

From the New York Times-bestselling, National Book Award-winning, Booker Prize-longlisted author of Apeirogon and Let the Great World Spin

‘Vivid, potent, beautiful’ Maggie O’Farrell

At the turn of the twentieth century, Nathan Walker comes to New York City to take the most dangerous job in the country: digging the tunnel far beneath the Hudson that will carry trains from Brooklyn to Manhattan. In the dark bowels of the riverbed, the workers – Black, white, Irish and Italian – dig together. Above ground, the men keep their distance from one another.

But a dramatic accident on a bitter winter’s day welds a bond between Walker and his fellow workers, which will both bless and curse three generations. A love story of other times for these, our times, This Side of Brightness is an unforgettable story of race, faith and family.

‘Riveting and devastating’ Observer

‘McCann writes with unusual truthfulness about poverty, degradation and love’ Daily Telegraph

‘Brilliant … A dramatic memorial to the working-men who built the greatest of modern cities’ Financial Times