Glorious Exploits

A bold and funny Sunday Times bestselling debut novel set in Ancient Sicily

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Glorious Exploits

By: Ferdia Lennon

Narrated by: Ferdia Lennon

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Brought to you by Penguin.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2024
WINNER OF THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2024
LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE
A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME
A BBC2 BETWEEN THE COVERS PICK
PICKED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN, THE INDEPENDENT, THE IRISH TIMES, THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND THE TLS

Ancient Sicily. Enter GELON: visionary, dreamer, theatre lover. Enter LAMPO: lovesick, jobless, in need of a distraction.

Imprisoned in the quarries of Syracuse, thousands of defeated Athenians hang on by the thinnest of threads.

They’re fading in the baking heat, but not everything is lost: they can still recite lines from Greek tragedy when tempted by Lampo and Gelon with goatskins of wine and scraps of food.

And so an idea is born. Because, after all, you can hate the invaders but still love their poetry.

It’s audacious. It might even be dangerous. But like all the best things in life – love, friendship, art itself – it will reveal the very worst, and the very best, of what humans are capable of.

What could possibly go wrong?

‘One of the most original and brilliant debuts in years’ Irish Times

‘Bold and totally unexpected ... I was hooked from the first page’ Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain

‘Brilliant ... Hilarious, moving, and profound’ R. F. Kuang, author of Yellowface

©2024 Ferdia Lennon (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Ferdia LennonFerdia LennonFig Tree

Ancient

Fiction

Friendship

Genre Fiction

Historical Fiction

Literary Fiction

Heartfelt

Funny

Inspiring

Tear-jerking

Thought-Provoking

Witty

Ancient Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt Funny Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking Witty

Critic reviews

One of the most original and brilliant Irish debuts in years

'The debut novelist to watch ... Remarkable ... This debut is entertaining, vivid, original – and has a huge amount of fun turning the genre on its head ... The premise is irresistible ... Terrific ... A novel to be gulped down'

Bold and totally unexpected, I loved this book. A brilliant novel about friendship, the healing power of art, and why we must fight for our dreams. I was hooked from the first page

Immensely likeable ... Raucously funny ... The writing is beautifully controlled

Brilliant ... I love contemporary Irish fiction and Greek tragedy, so how wonderful to find a novel where they are brilliantly paired. It is as hilarious, moving, and profound as promised

As thrilling for me as the first time I picked up a Kevin Barry novel. Glorious Exploits is exuberant, funny, lyrical and profoundly moving. It is, quite simply, a rare beauty

Glorious Exploits stinks of misery, despair, love, war, poetry, reckless ambition, terrible failure, and glorious triumph. It’s a novel thick with the stuff of the Classics, in other words. A delicious treat of a read. I loved it

In At Swims-Two-Birds, Flann O'Brien gave us cowboys riding through Dublin. Now, Ferdia Lennon gives us modern-day Dubliners living among the ancient Greeks. This is a very special, very clever, very entertaining novel

One of the best debut novels of the year – it even received an award saying so – this is a ridiculously fun book…It's a poignant story about war, art, and friendship, while also being very funny

Funny, thoughtful, moving, brilliant

Most relevant

As a teacher of Classics and an avid reader of contemporary literature, particularly anything written by an Irish author, I was excited to add this to my listening list. It certainly did not disappoint. I actually think this is a book that should be listened to rather than read because the author’s brogue beautifully conveys the tone and spirit of his words. It’s a refreshing difference from so much of the recent work that has been written reimagining classical stories, which typically adopts the underrepresented, female perspective. Here, though, we have a story of two Syracusan men, very contrasting characters, close friends who embark upon what seems like a doomed mission to put on two Euripides plays with a cast of starving Athenian prisoners in the quarries at Syracuse in 412 BC after the disastrous defeat of the Athenian Sicilian expedition. It’s intelligently researched and beautifully told - funny, sad and informative in equal measure. There are laugh-out-loud moments and also bits that make you gasp. I cannot recommend it highly enough.