The Glorious Heresies: Winner of the Baileys' Women's Prize for Fiction 2016

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WINNER OF THE BAILEYS' WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2016 WINNER OF THE DESMOND ELLIOT PRIZE 2016 We all do stupid things when we're kids. Ryan Cusack's grown up faster than most - being the oldest of six with a dead mum and an alcoholic dad will do that for you. And nobody says Ryan's stupid. Not even behind his back. It's the people around him who are the problem. The gangland boss using his dad as a 'cleaner'. The neighbour who says she's trying to help but maybe wants something more than that. The prostitute searching for the man she never knew she'd miss until he disappeared without trace one night . . . The only one on Ryan's side is his girlfriend Karine. If he blows that, he's all alone. But the truth is, you don't know your own strength till you need it.

Lisa McInerney is from Galway and is the author of award-winning blog 'Arse End of Ireland'. The Irish Times has called her 'arguably the most talented writer at work in Ireland today'. Her mother remains unimpressed.

Here's a writer who's totally and unmistakably the real deal and whose every page pulses with vim and vitality and mad twisty insights and terrific description and with real tenderness, too. - Kevin Barry The most talented writer at work in Ireland today. - Irish Times A punchy, edgy, sexy, fizzing feast of a debut novel from an immensely skilled storyteller with a glorious passion for words. I loved it - Joseph O'Connor, author of Star of the Sea A gripping and often riotously funny tale . . . McInerney gifts us a memorable cast that are tough as nails, savagely articulate, and helplessly human - Colin Barrett Every bit as nuanced and sad and sharp as we'd have hoped, and as gloriously expansive and manic and iconoclastic as the title suggests - Bookmunch The [book] I reached for as my book at bedtime, the one I tore through most hungrily . . . The strongest thing about the book is its security of characterisation and tightness of plot; and particularly, the way in which turns of the plot are tangibly shaped by the flaws that even the more likeable characters (and they're all likeable to some extent) possess - The Spectator A real stunner; a wild ride of a read - Donal Ryan, author of The Spinning Heart McInerney's riotous, sweary debut tracks the lives of five outsiders living in Ireland's post-boom badlands . . . It delves into the complicated webs of relationships that make up a family, and explores shame and the search for redemption with wholehearted exuberance - Psychologies