Listen free for 30 days
-
The Glorious Heresies
- Winner of the Baileys' Women's Prize for Fiction 2016
- Narrated by: Shelley Atkinson
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £16.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Blood Miracles
- By: Lisa McInerney
- Narrated by: Shelley Atkinson
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like all 20-year-olds, Ryan Cusack is trying to get his head around who he is. This is not a good time for his boss to exploit his dual heritage by opening a new black market route from Italy to Ireland. It is certainly not a good time for his adored girlfriend to decide he's irreparably corrupted. And he really wishes he hadn't accidentally caught the eye of an ornery grandmother who fancies herself his saviour.
-
-
superbly written and narrated.
- By Brid on 02-11-17
-
The Rules of Revelation
- By: Lisa McInerney
- Narrated by: Shelley Atkinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reunions. Recriminations. Reckonings. Ireland. Great nationalists, bad mothers and a whole lot of secrets. Ryan Cusack is ready to deliver its soundtrack. Former sex-worker Georgie wants the truth about Ryan's past out there, but the journalist has her own agenda. Mel returns from Brexit Britain, ill-equipped to deal with the resurgence of a family scandal. Karine has always been sure of herself, until a terrible secret tugs the rug from under her. Maureen has got wind that things are changing, and if anyone's telling the story she wants to make sure it's her.
-
-
A classic
- By Palorine on 30-05-21
-
Trespasses
- By: Louise Kennedy
- Narrated by: Brid Brennan
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One by one, she undid each event, each decision, each choice. If Davy had remembered to put on a coat. If Seamie McGeown had not found himself alone on a dark street. If Michael Agnew had not walked through the door of the pub on a quiet night in February in his white shirt. There is nothing special about the day Cushla meets Michael, a married man from Belfast, in the pub owned by her family. But here, love is never far from violence, and this encounter will change both of their lives forever.
-
-
Emotionally charged.. Outstanding!
- By Shar on 30-04-22
-
The Sentence
- By: Louise Erdrich
- Narrated by: Louise Erdrich
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store's most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls' Day, but she simply won't leave the store. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading 'with murderous attention', must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation and furious reckoning.
-
-
Ghostly truths
- By Amazon Customer on 27-03-22
-
The Mystic Masseur
- A Novel
- By: V. S. Naipaul
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this slyly funny and lavishly inventive novel, Nobel Prize winner V. S. Naipaul traces the unlikely career of Ganesh Ramsumair, a failed schoolteacher and impecunious village masseur who in time becomes a revered mystic, a thriving entrepreneur, and the most beloved politician in Trinidad. Witty, tender, filled with the sights, sounds, and smells of Trinidad's dusty Indian villages, The Mystic Masseur is Naipaul at his most expansive and evocative.
-
-
Great narration and hilarious story
- By simone on 12-10-19
-
The Fractured Life of Jimmy Dice
- By: Ronan Ryan
- Narrated by: Patrick Moy, Grainne Gillis
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jimmy Diaz is born a twin, and while he doesn't know it, his nearest sibling has stayed with him forever, overseeing the drama of his life played out and acting as a narrative voice. When young, Jimmy loses a lower limb to a starving attack dog - this is the first of many disasters and one that shapes him to become a chancer, a willful man unafraid to stand up to a notorious Dublin gangster, but also a young man with heart and belief: a loyal son, a good friend, a courageous brother and a sweet and passionate lover.
-
-
Heartbreaking
- By Stephen on 02-02-17
-
The Blood Miracles
- By: Lisa McInerney
- Narrated by: Shelley Atkinson
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like all 20-year-olds, Ryan Cusack is trying to get his head around who he is. This is not a good time for his boss to exploit his dual heritage by opening a new black market route from Italy to Ireland. It is certainly not a good time for his adored girlfriend to decide he's irreparably corrupted. And he really wishes he hadn't accidentally caught the eye of an ornery grandmother who fancies herself his saviour.
-
-
superbly written and narrated.
- By Brid on 02-11-17
-
The Rules of Revelation
- By: Lisa McInerney
- Narrated by: Shelley Atkinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reunions. Recriminations. Reckonings. Ireland. Great nationalists, bad mothers and a whole lot of secrets. Ryan Cusack is ready to deliver its soundtrack. Former sex-worker Georgie wants the truth about Ryan's past out there, but the journalist has her own agenda. Mel returns from Brexit Britain, ill-equipped to deal with the resurgence of a family scandal. Karine has always been sure of herself, until a terrible secret tugs the rug from under her. Maureen has got wind that things are changing, and if anyone's telling the story she wants to make sure it's her.
-
-
A classic
- By Palorine on 30-05-21
-
Trespasses
- By: Louise Kennedy
- Narrated by: Brid Brennan
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One by one, she undid each event, each decision, each choice. If Davy had remembered to put on a coat. If Seamie McGeown had not found himself alone on a dark street. If Michael Agnew had not walked through the door of the pub on a quiet night in February in his white shirt. There is nothing special about the day Cushla meets Michael, a married man from Belfast, in the pub owned by her family. But here, love is never far from violence, and this encounter will change both of their lives forever.
-
-
Emotionally charged.. Outstanding!
- By Shar on 30-04-22
-
The Sentence
- By: Louise Erdrich
- Narrated by: Louise Erdrich
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store's most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls' Day, but she simply won't leave the store. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading 'with murderous attention', must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation and furious reckoning.
-
-
Ghostly truths
- By Amazon Customer on 27-03-22
-
The Mystic Masseur
- A Novel
- By: V. S. Naipaul
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this slyly funny and lavishly inventive novel, Nobel Prize winner V. S. Naipaul traces the unlikely career of Ganesh Ramsumair, a failed schoolteacher and impecunious village masseur who in time becomes a revered mystic, a thriving entrepreneur, and the most beloved politician in Trinidad. Witty, tender, filled with the sights, sounds, and smells of Trinidad's dusty Indian villages, The Mystic Masseur is Naipaul at his most expansive and evocative.
-
-
Great narration and hilarious story
- By simone on 12-10-19
-
The Fractured Life of Jimmy Dice
- By: Ronan Ryan
- Narrated by: Patrick Moy, Grainne Gillis
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jimmy Diaz is born a twin, and while he doesn't know it, his nearest sibling has stayed with him forever, overseeing the drama of his life played out and acting as a narrative voice. When young, Jimmy loses a lower limb to a starving attack dog - this is the first of many disasters and one that shapes him to become a chancer, a willful man unafraid to stand up to a notorious Dublin gangster, but also a young man with heart and belief: a loyal son, a good friend, a courageous brother and a sweet and passionate lover.
-
-
Heartbreaking
- By Stephen on 02-02-17
-
The Bread the Devil Knead
- By: Lisa Allen-Agostini
- Narrated by: Lisa Allen-Agostini
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alethea Lopez is about to turn 40. Fashionable, feisty and fiercely independent, she manages a boutique in Port of Spain, but behind closed doors she's covering up bruises from her abusive partner and seeking solace in an affair with her boss. When she witnesses a woman murdered by a jealous lover, the reality of her own future comes a little too close to home. Bringing us her truth in an arresting, unsparing Trinidadian voice, Alethea unravels memories repressed since childhood and begins to understand the person she has become. Her next step is to decide the woman she wants to be.
-
-
Gripping in an amazing way
- By Rachel on 05-08-22
-
The Promise
- By: Damon Galgut
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The many voices of The Promise tell a story in four snapshots, each one centered on a family funeral, each one happening in a different decade. In the background, a different president is in power, and a different spirit hangs over the country, while in the foreground the family fights over what they call their farm, on a worthless piece of land outside Pretoria. Over large jumps in time, people get older, faces and laws and lives all change, while a brother and sister circle around a promise made long ago and never kept....
-
-
Difficult experience
- By #carylreads on 23-07-21
-
Laurus
- By: Lisa C. Hayden - translator, Eugene Vodolazkin
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is the late 15th century and a village healer in Russia called Laurus is powerless to help his beloved as she dies in childbirth, unwed and without having received communion. Devastated and desperate, he sets out on a journey in search of redemption. But this is no ordinary journey: it is one that spans ages and countries, and which brings him face-to-face with a host of unforgettable, eccentric characters and legendary creatures from the strangest medieval bestiaries.
-
-
Simply beautiful
- By moonapollo on 03-01-20
-
Lessons in Chemistry
- By: Bonnie Garmus
- Narrated by: Miranda Raison
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing. But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant Nobel-prize-nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
-
-
I laughed and cried. A masterpiece.
- By Nicola on 21-04-22
-
The Book of Form and Emptiness
- By: Ruth Ozeki
- Narrated by: Kerry Shale, Ruth Ozeki
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the tragic death of his beloved musician father, 14-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house - a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament, a piece of wilted lettuce. Although Benny doesn't understand what these things are saying, he can sense their emotional tone; some are pleasant, a gentle hum or coo, but others are snide, angry and full of pain. When his mother develops a hoarding problem, the voices grow more clamorous.
-
-
Definitely a slow burner
- By TheRealMrsB on 06-04-22
-
Young Mungo
- By: Douglas Stuart
- Narrated by: Chris Reilly
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in a hyper-masculine world. They are caught between two of Glasgow’s housing estates where young working-class men divide themselves along sectarian lines, and fight territorial battles for the sake of reputation. They should be sworn enemies if they’re to be seen as men at all, and yet they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the doocot that James has built for his prize racing pigeons. As they begin to fall in love, they dream of escaping the grey city.
-
-
Excellent
- By Eve on 18-04-22
-
Great Circle
- By: Maggie Shipstead
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Alex McKenna
- Length: 25 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the night she is rescued as a baby out of the flames of a sinking ship, to the day she joins a pair of daredevil pilots looping and diving over the rugged forests of her childhood, to the thrill of flying Spitfires during the war, the life of Marian Graves has always been marked by a lust for freedom and danger. In 1950, she embarks on her life's dream - to fly a Great Circle around the globe, pole to pole. But after a crash landing, she finds herself stranded on the Antarctic ice without enough fuel.
-
-
A book that I didn't want to end
- By SilverSea on 31-12-21
-
Sour
- By: Tracey Miller, Lucy Bannerman
- Narrated by: Jasmine Stewart
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sour is the true story of a former Brixton gang girl, drug dealer, and full-time criminal. A member of the Younger 28s, a notorious gang that terrorised the postcodes around Brixton in the 90s, Sour escapes a troubled family life to immerse herself in the street life of likking and linking. She never leaves her house without a knife. At the age of 15, she stabs an innocent man in the street, earning her unrivalled respect and ‘Top-Dog' status amongst her crew. She believes she is invincible. But the consequences of her actions are soon to catch up with her.
-
-
This book & audio was a must read/listen for me.
- By Jsweetness on 25-11-20
-
Elmet
- By: Fiona Mozley
- Narrated by: Gareth Bennett-Ryan
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An atmospheric and thrilling debut set in Yorkshire - perfect for fans of The Loney and The Essex Serpent. Fresh and distinctive writing from an exciting new voice in fiction, Elmet is an unforgettable novel about family, as well as a beautiful meditation on landscape. Daniel is heading north. He is looking for someone. The simplicity of his early life with Daddy and Cathy has turned sour and fearful.
-
-
A Powerful Story of Outsiders& Family Love/Loyalty
- By bookylady on 13-10-17
-
Life! Death! Prizes!
- By: Stephen May
- Narrated by: Thomas Judd
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billy's mother is dead. He knows-because he reads about it in magazines-that people die every day in ways that are more random and tragic and stupid than hers, but for nineteen-year-old Billy and his little brother, Oscar, their mother's death in a bungled street robbery is the most random and tragic and stupid thing that could possibly have happened to them.
-
The Echo Chamber
- By: John Boyne
- Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Cleverley family live a gilded life, little realising how precarious their privilege is, just one tweet away from disaster. George, the patriarch, is a stalwart of television interviewing, a 'national treasure' (his words); his wife, Beverley, a celebrated novelist; and their children, Nelson, Elizabeth, Achilles, various degrees of catastrophe waiting to happen. Together they will go on a journey of discovery through the Hogarthian jungle of the modern living where past presumptions count for nothing and carefully curated reputations can be destroyed in an instant.
-
-
A Morality Tale with Panache
- By A. E. Blunsden on 19-08-21
-
The Colony
- By: Audrey Magee
- Narrated by: Stephen Hogan
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mr Lloyd has decided to travel to the island by boat without engine - the authentic experience. Unbeknownst to him, Mr Masson will also soon be arriving for the summer. Both will strive to encapsulate the truth of this place - one in his paintings, the other with his faithful rendition of its speech, the language he hopes to preserve. But the people who live here on this rock - three miles wide and half-a-mile long - have their own views on what is being recorded, what is being taken and what is given in return.
-
-
“Self Portrait: Review”
- By Callum on 23-04-22
Summary
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.
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 postcrash society. Ryan is a 15-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 40 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 20th-century attitudes towards sex and family.
Critic reviews
"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)
More from the same
What listeners say about The Glorious Heresies
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- ros
- 05-06-16
A fantastic listen
If they give out oscars for how well a book is read, Shelley Atkinson deserves one. All the characters are beautifully drawn by Lisa McInerney and dialogue different and Atkinson voices each one beautifully and truthfully to the writers great talent.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 17-08-16
Fantastic narration!
I loved the wit of the Irish voice in this story and the talent of the narrator in bringing it to life. Maureen was my favourite - she made me laugh out loud a few times. Beautifully written. Best book I've listened to in a long time.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Co
- 23-07-16
Cark bai! <br />
Great stuff, makes me proud, happy to see such talent from the rebel County. Over annunciated at times, but I suppose may not be comprehensible to foreigners otherwise!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- ClareBC
- 28-09-16
Best audio book ever!
Listened in commute to and from work, and delighted in traffic jams as loved book!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- My name is your name
- 24-08-16
Exceptional performance of a great book
The performance definitely brought this book to life. Wonderfully evocative language. Heartbreaking characters. Funny, sad and very real
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kim Driver
- 03-08-16
A book I will never forget
This was a fantastic story.....listening to it on Audio was fantastic too as great marrator
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- LocationF
- 20-07-16
Phew!
Darkly hilarious and heart wrenching all in the same breath. Very moving. Very vivid. Foul, but so linguistically beautiful in its narration.
Bravo!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jaisalmeera
- 04-06-18
a fabulous piece of writing brilliantly performed.
layers of depth sufficed with a wry wit. highly recommended. the narrator brought every character vividly to life.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tabitha Burns
- 24-04-18
Loved the book and the narration in Cork accent!
Was lovely listening to a book read in a Cork accent, even if they might have toned it down a bit! The book is sometimea very dark, sometimes very funny. Gripping and enjoyable.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bee
- 29-12-17
Stunning
The characters are so well drawn and the narration so good it felt like I was watching a really good play.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Virginia S.
- 15-01-19
The narrator is wonderful. Thestory; baffling
The story was so confusing that it made it hard to appreciate their lovely accent in which it was read .
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Maggie
- 06-08-18
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.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- M
- 03-05-18
Wow
A wonderful story depicting life in Cork. I laughed, I cried, and honestly I can't decide if I wanna read the second book or crawl into a corner for a week. Great books make you feel things and this was magnificent. I can't wait to see what else Lisa McLnerney creates.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- toasty
- 13-04-18
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.