Books by Ferdia Lennon
Ferdia Lennonwas born and raised in Dublin. He holds a BA in History and Classics from University College Dublin and an MA in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia. Glorious Exploits is his first novel. A Sunday Times bestseller, it was adapted for BBC Radio 4 and was the winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2024. After spending many years in Paris, he now lives in Norwich with his wife and son.
Glorious Exploits: A Novel
by Ferdia Lennon
🏆 Winner of the 2024 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction
“With no preamble, he presents us with an informal, chatty Syracuse of 412 BC. He can see the place and hear the tone so clearly in his head that the reader, whilst knowing perfectly well that both tone and story are fiction, never doubts him. That’s quite a feat.” Read more...
The Best Historical Fiction of 2025
Katharine Grant, Historical Novelist
Interviews with Ferdia Lennon
Historical Novels Set During the Classical Era, recommended by Ferdia Lennon
Though culture, society, and technology were very different in the ancient world, human minds and relationships still functioned in very similar ways, argues Ferdia Lennon—author of Glorious Exploits, set during the Peloponnesian War. Here he recommends five novels set during the Classical era that serve, in their own ways, as mirrors of the present.
Interviews where books by Ferdia Lennon were recommended
The Best Historical Fiction of 2025, recommended by Katharine Grant
Every year, the judges of the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction highlight the very best new books published in that genre over the past twelve months. In 2025, the six book shortlist features historical novels set as widely apart as ancient Sicily, 16th-century England, and 20th century Holland. Here, judge Katharine Grant talks us through their selection.
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1
A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering
by Andrew Hunter Murray -
2
Good Material: A Novel
by Dolly Alderton -
3
High Vaultage
by Chris Sugden & Jen Sugden -
4
The Ministry of Time: A Novel
by Kaliane Bradley -
5
The Rachel Incident: A Novel
by Caroline O'Donoghue -
6
You Are Here: A Novel
by David Nicholls
The Funniest Books of 2024, recommended by Justin Albert
The Funniest Books of 2024, recommended by Justin Albert
Every year, judges for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize ferret out the very best in newly published comic fiction. This year, the seven-novel shortlist ranges from steampunk fantasy to romantic comedy—and they are, says judge Justin Albert, the funniest books of 2024.
