Glorious Exploits

Brought to you by Penguin.THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2024WINNER OF THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION 2024SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2024LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZELONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZEA BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIMEA BBC2 BETWEEN THE COVERS PICKPICKED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN, THE INDEPENDENT, THE IRISH TIMES, THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND THE TLSAncient 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(c)2024 Ferdia Lennon (P)2024 Penguin Audio