Glorious Exploits
By Ferdia Lennon
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2024
A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME
‘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
***
Ancient Sicily. Enter GELON: visionary, dreamer, theatre lover. Enter LAMPO: feckless, 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?
***
‘Fierce, funny, fast-paced ... Brings the ancient world roaring to life’ Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre
‘Love, war, poetry, reckless ambition, terrible failure, and glorious triumph ... A delicious treat of a read. I loved it’ Jon McGregor, author of Lean Fall Stand
The story takes place in 412 BC, where Athenian prisoners from a failed invasion of Sicily are being held in the Syracuse quarries under terrible conditions. Our unlikely heroes are two drunken, unemployed local potters with an ear for poetry. When they discover that many of the Athenians know Euripides, they decide to stage a performance of Medea using the prisoners as the cast. With good humour amidst setbacks and many a wineskin, the play takes shape and they discover that their captors are very much like themselves.
Being in the place where the book was set really brought the story and the ancient past alive. A great start to the holiday!"
