Prophet Song

De: Paul Lynch

Narrado por: Gerry O'Brien

Winner of the Booker Prize 2023

On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother of four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find the GNSB on her step. Two officers from Ireland’s newly formed secret police are here to interrogate her husband, a trade unionist.

Ireland is falling apart. The country is in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny and when her husband disappears, Eilish finds herself caught within the nightmare logic of a society that is quickly unravelling.

How far will she go to save her family? And what – or who – is she willing to leave behind?

Exhilarating, terrifying and propulsive, Prophet Song is a work of breathtaking originality, offering a devastating vision of a country at war and a deeply human portrait of a mother’s fight to hold her family together.

2023, Booker Prize, Winner

2023, An Post Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year, Short-listed

2025, Dublin Literary Award, Long-listed

©2023 Paul Lynch (P)2023 Bolinda Publishing

Reseñas de la Crítica

'I haven't read a book that has shaken me so intensely in many years ... The comparisons are inevitable – Saramago, Orwell, McCarthy – but this novel will stand entirely on its own.' (Colum McCann, author of Apeirogon)

'Monumental ... You remember why fiction matters. It's hard to recall a more powerful novel in recent years.' (Samantha Harvey, author of The Western Wind)

'Prophet Song is a literary manifesto for empathy for those in need and a brilliant, haunting novel that should be placed into the hands of policymakers everywhere.' (The Guardian)

Could not stop listening

Scary and brilliant and beautifully written. I hesitated to listen to it, because I had heard that it was quite dark. Don’t let that stop you, it’s awesome.

Authentic & Gripping Cautionary Tale

A compelling and wrenching story of events that occur in a civilized first nation, when an authoritarian coup succeeds in overthrowing a democratic state. There was never a moment in this novel when I thought, “oh, that wouldn’t happen.” Indeed, the events and character choices were never sensationalized for literary effect, but instead seemed utterly authentic. Anyone who pays attention to our current state of the world, should put this novel on their list.

The creeping overtaking of ordinary lives by disaster.

Set in Ireland, yet shorn of Irish tropes, thus universal.
Powerful evocation of how stubborn optimism exposes us to the risk of denial.

Wow! Heartbreaking and Incredible story

Everyone should read or listen to this book. Dystopian story but totally plausible in our crazy world.

Timely. Timeless.

Lynch takes us inside that frog in a frying pan feeling that every person who has ever been ground under by displacement, occupation and war.

Why!?

This is a well written, very interesting novel in most ways. However, the protagonist makes a decision about 3/4 of the way through that is so irresponsible and crazy that it turned the rest of the story into emotional abuse for me. I’m not saying you shouldn’t read this book, but it’s hard to deal with. If you enjoyed “Breaking the Waves” and “Requiem for a Dream,” then this is for you.

Slightly meandering

The performance was great and I really wanted to embrace the story, but I just had a hard time holding interest. My mind wandered too easily, and I think it is due to the story being so close to real world possibilities. So likely just not for me, right now.

Heartbreaking Reality

This is very hard to face as it must be the reality of war in your own country. I feel it must be a realistic portrayal of war, which I have never considered before…

Terrifying how fast things can change

Somber narration. Writing in a way that captures how our minds may remember our last moments before a drama or trauma unfolds. Snapshots of faces, snippets of conversation, flashbacks of opportunities lost. Pacey and very well written!

Intense and foreboding

I love this book, even though it was scary and sad and heartbreaking and probably our future