With an introduction by Roy Foster, this classic work of Irish literature is an exploration of love, art, and identity. This was the night train to Barcelona, some hours before dawn, in 1950, late September. Katherine Proctor has dared to leave her family in Ireland to reach out for a new life. Determined to become an artist, she flees to Spain, where she meets Miguel, a passionate man who has fought for his own freedoms. They retreat to the quiet intensity of the mountains and begin to build a life together. But as Miguel's past catches up with him, Katherine too is forced to re-examine her relationships: with her lover, her painting, and the homeland she only thought she knew. The South is the book that introduced readers to the astonishing gifts of Colm Tóibín, winning the Irish Times First Fiction Award in 1991. Arrestingly visual and enduringly atmospheric, it is a classic novel of art, sacrifice, and courage.