Description
Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2024
WINNER OF THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 (DEBUT FICTION)
LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE
A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME
A BBC2 BETWEEN THE COVERS PICK
PICKED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN, THE INDEPENDENT, THE IRISH TIMES, THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND THE TLS
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: 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?
***
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
Sunday Times bestseller, August 2024
