The Lesser Bohemians
“Eimear McBride was an actor before she was a writer. Her novels, especially as performed by her, are breathtakingly effective both as literature and as theater…This telling is so moving, so universal and yet so specific to these two gifted, damaged people, so powerful (and powerfully erotic) as to be unforgettable. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
AudioFile
Longlisted for the 2017 Baileys’ Women’s Prize for Fiction
Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize
Among longlisted titles for Baileys Women's Prize, 2017
Among shortlisted titles for International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, 2018
Winner of James Tait Black Memorial Prize, 2017
Among shortlisted titles for Royal Society of Literature Encore Award, 2017
One night an eighteen-year-old Irish girl, recently arrived in London to attend drama school, meets an older man—a well-regarded actor in his own right. While she is naive and thrilled by life in the big city, he is haunted by more than a few demons, and the clamorous relationship that ensues risks undoing them both.
A captivating story of passion and innocence, joy and discovery set against the vibrant atmosphere of 1990s London over the course of a single year, The Lesser Bohemians glows with the eddies and anxieties of growing up, and the transformative intensity of a powerful new love.
Winner of the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction
Shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award
Shortlisted for the 2016 Goldsmiths Prize
Shortlisted for the 2016 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards Eason Novel of the Year
Praise