The Glorious Heresies

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

By: Lisa McInerney

Narrated by: Shelley Atkinson

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

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

Surprisingly Brilliant

When I added this to my list to read in 2024, I wasn't expecting much. A quirky Irish tale.

The narrator made this my favorite book on my list last year. This novel had no business being so good when all thr characters are up to illegal shenanigans and you shouldn't be rooting for any of them. And yet, you come to love almost each of them for reasons beyond comprehension. The drug dealing punk, the abusive alcoholic, even the mafia boss gets to you. They're all terrible, but the narrator and the story is going to make you see them as they are: not as monsters, but humans

Amazing performance, brilliant book

Loved the Maureen character. Amazing dialog. Sad, believable characters. And the narration was outstanding. Loved the references to the river throughout, and the ghosts.

The Best Narration

Some stories are meant to be heard. Shelley Atkinson's narration of The Glorious Heresies made a fantastic story even better. Atkinson really brought the characters and their corner of Ireland to life.

Excellent

Beautifully written. A masterful combination of tragedy and with very human humorous moments. The reader/listener enters the lives of these characters. I will be reading everything this author publishes.

Outstanding

Would you listen to The Glorious Heresies again? Why?

The writing, the language, the masterful performance

What does Shelley Atkinson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her accents and clear voices of each character, an excellent performance.