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Prophet Song

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Prophet Song

By: Paul Lynch
Narrated by: Gerry O'Brien
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About this listen

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 Dystopian Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Political Science Fiction Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Scary Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking Marriage

Critic Reviews

'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)
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A very moving portrayal of a woman's fight to stay sane, while trying navigate her family through the horrors of political injustices and war. Paul Lynch writes with such detail and insights of the trauma of war on people of Northern Ireland. Through the eyes of a loving and caring woman, who leaves everything to save her broken family. Beautifully written and well narrated. I highly recommend this book.

Wife's, mothers,family and war

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A heart breaking story of loss, mothers’ love and the human spirit. Beautifully written and expertly and sensitively narrated. Worth the journey but it it reminds us that humans can be mindlessly cruel.

Prophet Song

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Excellent story deeply thought provoking. Paul Lynch’s interruption of ordinary people caught up in circumstances beyond their control is very well written. Very relatable in today’s world.

Prophet Song

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The descriptive writing along with the dreamlike and other worldly feel to the words makes for a gripping listen. Captivatingly performed by Gerry O'Brien!

A word smith's dystopia! Terrifyingly possible.

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Perfectly narrated to set the mood. A story that reminds us that tragic events can happen to all of us.

A devastating read

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