Histria Books is pleased to announce the release of The Crossing by Ashby Jones in both paperback and eBook formats. The book is published by Addison & Highsmith Publishers, an imprint of Histria Books dedicated to outstanding original works of fiction.
The Crossing is a powerful and haunting love story of surprising discovery set in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen during Prohibition. Irish-born Johnny Flynn, a former British soldier, is banished from his homeland and sent to America on a ship so riddled with disease that he realizes the voyage was meant to murder him. When he survives the trip, the captain forces him to walk the plank into the Hudson River. Miraculously, an Irish gang, the Swamp Angels, rescues Johnny and gives him a job running whiskey in Hell’s Kitchen just as Prohibition makes liquor a hugely profitable, dangerous business.
Fighting for his life and livelihood, Johnny is plagued by the memory of his lost lover, Nora, whose father, the famed Irish revolutionary, James Connolly, met his death by a firing squad that included a reluctant gunman named Johnny Flynn. Then, Johnny encounters Esme, an Irish singer who suffered unspeakable horrors at the hands of the British.
As he grapples with taking responsibility to help others, he learns that Nora is coming to New York to advocate for Irish independence. As he confronts her and soon after receives a piercing love letter from Esme, the story comes to a turbulent climax.
Midwest Book Review calls it “…a powerfully written and memorable love story set in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen during Prohibition and dealing with the reconciliation of love and guilt, grief and promise, […] a compelling page turner of a read from start to finish…”
The Crossing, 272 pp., ISBN 978-1-59211-155-8, is available at HistriaBooks.com and from all major book retailers. The book is also available in eBook and audiobook formats. Titles published under the various imprints of Histria Books are distributed worldwide by the Independent Publishers Group (IPG). For information on publishing with Histria Books, please visit HistriaBooks.com or contact us at info@histriabooks.com
