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. Toibin 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.