{"title":"Books by Ferdia Lennon","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780241998007","title":"Glorious Exploits","description":"\u003cp\u003eTHE \u003ci\u003eSUNDAY TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eBESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003eWINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2024\u003cbr\u003eWINNER OF THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION 2024\u003cbr\u003eWINNER OF THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD\u003cbr\u003eWINNER OF THE PREMIO GREGOR VON REZZORI\u003cbr\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2024\u003cbr\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE\u003cbr\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE\u003cbr\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE JOHN MCGAHERN PRIZE\u003cbr\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 (DEBUT FICTION)\u003cbr\u003eA BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME\u003cbr\u003eA BBC2 BETWEEN THE COVERS PICK\u003cbr\u003ePICKED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE\u003ci\u003e GUARDIAN, \u003c\/i\u003eTHE\u003ci\u003e INDEPENDENT, \u003c\/i\u003eTHE\u003ci\u003e IRISH TIMES, \u003c\/i\u003eTHE\u003ci\u003e FINANCIAL TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eAND THE \u003ci\u003eTLS\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘One of the most original and brilliant debuts in years’ \u003ci\u003eIrish Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Bold and totally unexpected ... I was hooked from the first page’ Douglas Stuart, author of \u003ci\u003eShuggie Bain\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Brilliant ... Hilarious, moving, and profound’ R. F. Kuang, author of \u003ci\u003eYellowface\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAncient Sicily. Enter GELON: visionary, dreamer, theatre lover. Enter LAMPO: lovesick, jobless, in need of a distraction.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eImprisoned in the quarries of Syracuse, thousands of defeated Athenians hang on by the thinnest of threads.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey’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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd so an idea is born. Because, after all, you can hate the invaders but still love their poetry.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat could possibly go wrong?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Fierce, funny, fast-paced … Brings the ancient world roaring to life’ Joanna Quinn, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Whalebone Theatre\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Love, war, poetry, reckless ambition, terrible failure, and glorious triumph … A delicious treat of a read. I loved it’ Jon McGregor, author of \u003ci\u003eLean Fall Stand\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestseller, August 2024\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54911775506805,"sku":"9780241998007","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780241998007_b1015a40-223a-4fc6-87d7-c794c6dcb88a.jpg?v=1786033362"},{"product_id":"glorious-exploits","title":"Glorious Exploits","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for Newcomer of the Year by the Irish Book Awards \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for the Nero Book Awards Debut Fiction Prize \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for the British Book Award for Debut Fiction Book of the Year \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLonglisted for the Carnegie Medal of Excellence \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNamed a Best Book of 2024 by\u003ci\u003e Slate,\u003c\/i\u003e the \u003ci\u003eGuardian, \u003c\/i\u003eand the New York Public Library\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn utterly original celebration of that which binds humanity across battle lines and history. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the island of Sicily amid the Peloponnesian War, the Syracusans have figured out what to do with the surviving Athenians who had the gall to invade their city: they’ve herded the sorry prisoners of war into a rock quarry and left them to rot. Looking for a way to pass the time, Lampo and Gelon, two unemployed potters with a soft spot for poetry and drink, head down into the quarry to feed the Athenians if, and only if, they can manage a few choice lines from their great playwright Euripides. Before long, the two mates hatch a plan to direct a full-blown production of \u003ci\u003eMedea\u003c\/i\u003e. After all, you can hate the people but love their art. But as opening night approaches, what started as a lark quickly sets in motion a series of extraordinary events, and our wayward heroes begin to realize that staging a play can be as dangerous as fighting a war, with all sorts of risks to life, limb, and friendship.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTold in a contemporary Irish voice and as riotously funny as it is deeply moving,\u003ci\u003e Glorious Exploits\u003c\/i\u003e is an unforgettable ode to the power of art in a time of war, brotherhood in a time of enmity, and human will throughout the ages.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57490130862453,"sku":"9781250893680","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781250893680.jpg?v=1786442019"},{"product_id":"brother-nothing","title":"Brother Nothing","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Brother Nothing \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eis as frightening as it is generous and wise. This extraordinarily cinematic medieval crime thriller is unputdownable' Alice Winn, author of \u003ci\u003eIn Memoriam \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFROM THE WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE AND BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eParis, 1369. The plague has returned. Philippe Gautier flees the capital with his young daughter, Nicole, to seek refuge in the town of his birth. There, among the woad fields of Picardy, he hopes to settle into a quiet post as Royal Provost.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut pestilence is not the only threat. The wife of one of the town’s wealthiest merchants has been found murdered, strung up in the dyers' quarter, dressed as an angel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePhilippe is tasked with bringing her killer to justice, but the town already has its culprit locked in the keep: a travelling performer of miracle plays, who insists he is innocent of this crime but deserving of punishment for his many other transgressions. Now he means to make a full confession.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs Philippe is drawn into the prisoner’s tale of love and loss, of vanished children and decades-old corruption, he and Nicole find themselves at the centre of a dangerous web of secrets and superstition. With the invading English army closing in outside the walls, Philippe begins to understand that the prisoner’s story and its mysteries have yet to reach their final act, and that he too must play a part.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA gothic detective story of love and loss, vanished children, ruined castles, plague ships, and the shadows of superstition and sorcery, from the electrifying author of \u003ci\u003eGlorious Exploits.\u003c\/i\u003e..\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57555332104565,"sku":"9780241737491","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780241737491-jacket-large.webp?v=1792060854"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-ferdia-lennon.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}