The Crossing

The Crossing forms the second part of Cormac McCarthy’s cri­tically acclaimed Border Trilogy, a story that began with All the Pretty Horses and concludes with Cities of the Plain.

Set on the south-western ranches in the years before the Second World War, Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing follows the fortunes of sixteen-year-old Billy Parham and his younger brother Boyd. Fascinated by an elusive wolf that has been marauding his family’s property, Billy captures the animal – but rather than kill it, sets out impulsively for the mountains of Mexico to return it to where it came from.

When Billy comes back to his own home he finds himself and his world irrevocably changed. His loss of innocence has come at a price, and once again the border beckons with its desolate beauty and cruel promise.

‘The Crossing is like a river in full spate: beautiful and dangerous’ The Times

This edition is part of the Picador Collection, a new list of the best in contemporary literature published in Picador’s 50th Anniversary year. McCarthy’s eagerly anticipated new novels, The Passenger and Stella Maris, will be published by Picador in October 2022.

Author Biography

Cormac McCarthy is one of the most enigmatic and reclusive superstars of the modern literary world. Living and writing from El Paso, Texas, he has shunned all requests for interviews, appearances at bookshops or literary festivals.Nonetheless, he remains one of the most admired writers of the last fifty years. His eight novels have received extraordinary reviews, being hailed as masterpieces of American literature. He has won the American National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award for All the Pretty Horses, the first book of The Border Trilogy.Cormac McCarthy is the author of twelve novels and a play. All his novels are available in Picador editions. He died in June 2023.