The Glorious Heresies cover art

The Glorious Heresies

'A big, brassy, sexy beast of a book' IRISH TIMES

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Glorious Heresies

By: Lisa McInerney
Narrated by: Shelley Atkinson
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

 WINNER OF THE BAILEYS' WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2016

WINNER OF THE DESMOND ELLIOT PRIZE 2016

LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 2016

LONGLISTED FOR THE THEAKSTONS OLD PECULIAR CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR

'The Glorious Heresies heralds the arrival of a glorious, foul-mouthed, fizzing new talent' SUNDAY TIMES

'Totally and unmistakably the real deal' KEVIN BARRY

'A real stunner; a wild ride of a read' DONAL RYAN

'A gripping and often riotously funny tale' COLIN BARRETT

'A punchy, edgy, sexy, fizzing feast of a debut novel' JOSEPH O'CONNOR

'He was definitely dead, whoever he was. He wore a once-black jumper and a pair of shiny tracksuit bottoms. The back of his head was cracked and his hair matted, but it had been foxy before that. A tall man, a skinny rake, another string of piss, now departed. She hadn't gotten a look at his face before she flaked him with the Holy Stone and she couldn't bring herself to turn him over.'

One messy murder affects the lives of five misfits who exist on the fringes of Ireland's post-crash society. Ryan is a fifteen-year-old drug dealer desperate not to turn out like his alcoholic father Tony, whose obsession with his unhinged next-door neighbour threatens to ruin him and his family. Georgie is a prostitute whose willingness to feign a religious conversion has dangerous repercussions, while Maureen, the accidental murderer, has returned to Cork after forty years in exile to discover that Jimmy, the son she was forced to give up years before, has grown into the most fearsome gangster in the city. In seeking atonement for the murder and a multitude of other perceived sins, Maureen threatens to destroy everything her son has worked so hard for, while her actions risk bringing the intertwined lives of the Irish underworld into the spotlight . . .

Biting, moving and darkly funny, The Glorious Heresies explores salvation, shame and the legacy of Ireland's twentieth-century attitudes to sex and family.

(P)2016 John Murray Press©2015 Lisa McInerney Crime Europe Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Murder Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Witty

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Bad Soul cover art
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter cover art
Please Don't Stop The Music cover art
Broken cover art
Our Vinnie: The true story of Yorkshire’s notorious criminal family cover art
Bad Girl cover art
No Mercy cover art
Heartless cover art

Critic reviews

A rich, touching, hilarious novel
A spectacular debut . . . a head-spinning, stomach-churning state-of-the-nation novel about a nation falling apart
A big, brassy, sexy beast of a book
A superb debut from a confident and comic writer
Fiendishly hilarious
All the trappings of a possible future classic . . . a fascinating and accomplished commentary on modern Irish life
A daring, exuberant and generous novel
There is the humour and the sheer, seething, broiling energy of the prose, which is peppered with the kind of language your mother would call unforgivable. As in Roddy Doyle and Irvine Welsh at their best, it doesn't feel gratuitous. It just feels true
A rambunctious portrayal of a swaggering off-kilter underclasss (Patricia Nicol)
This year's Baileys prize winner, the interlinked stories of chancers, gangsters and no-hopers in Cork city, is crime caper, teen romance and blisteringly dark social satire all rolled into one. Angry, funny and full of heart
All stars
Most relevant
Great stuff, makes me proud, happy to see such talent from the rebel County. Over annunciated at times, but I suppose may not be comprehensible to foreigners otherwise!

Cark bai! <br />

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Any additional comments?

I loved this audio-book. Both the writing and the narration were pitch perfect. A raw and brutal story at times yet nuanced with fragility and beauty. This was deftly written and perfectly performed. I will always remember the characters and this is one of my favourite ever audio-books.. Outstanding!

Astonishing and outstanding!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The characters are so well drawn and the narration so good it felt like I was watching a really good play.

Stunning

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Absolutely loved this beautiful tale of broken lost souls , damned by their birthright on a one way street to damnation. The characters are so fully drawn in all their flawed humane glory you can't help rooting for the drunk, the abuser, the drug dealer, the whore to triumph against the odds. Its no fairytale , and certainly doesn't pull any punches. The narration is absolutely exquisite, and I revelled in the gorgeous differing Irish dialects . The author's voice will stay with me for a long time .

Gritty, heartfelt, and raw.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved this book and the narrator! Irish story tellers really know how to knock it out of the park. And Lisa mc inearny definitely has the gift of the gab

Irish story telling at its best

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews