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Prestige Drama
Contributors
Formats and Prices
- On Sale
- May 5, 2026
- Page Count
- 256 pages
- Publisher
- Cardinal
- ISBN-13
- 9781538778234
Price
$14.99Format
Format:
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A dazzling novel about a community where an upcoming film production brings their past into sharp focus—and nobody’s version is the same.
In Derry, the locals are already in a twist about the arrival of Hollywood actress Monica Logue to research her role for a show about the Troubles—and then she goes missing. Everyone has a story to tell—about Monica’s possible whereabouts, and about the historic events that brought her here in the first place: the show’s screenwriter, desperate for this last shot at success; the grieving mother whose story he’s adapting; the ex-IRA member who knows the price of survival; the local psychic who’s seen too much …
Prestige Drama brings to life a chorus of characters as they locate themselves in Monica's disappearance, and in the truth about their own history. From the author of the acclaimed memoir Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?, Prestige Drama is heartbreaking, hilarious, and profound, an indelible portrait of a community both obsessed with its past, and desperate to forget it.
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“Who tells the story and why they tell it is a central concern, though O’Reilly’s lightness of touch means it never seems overdone. He has a keen eye for absurdities, for the way tragedy becomes marketable…The humor of Prestige Drama is skillfully weaponized: it allows O’Reilly to go after subjects that we often tiptoe around.”The Guardian
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“A riotous mixture of raucous humor, burning sarcasm, genuine empathy and real sadness…Behind the humor, however, there is real heart, and often unadulterated anger…O’Reilly’s debut proves itself viciously and hilariously astute.”Irish Independent
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“Disarmingly hilarious…O’Reilly shows a genius for illuminating the guilty, awkward complexities people feel in trying to shrug off the sanctity of a collective historical wound. Just because you’re being funny about the past, as O’Reilly showed in his memoir, it doesn’t mean you’re not being desperately serious about it.”The Times (UK)
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“Both uproariously funny and poignant, Prestige Drama is an affectionate portrait of Derry that will not disappoint any fans of the memoir.”Buzz Magazine (UK)
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“Séamas O’Reilly’s consistently playful and captivating stream-of-consciousness writing style is truly immersive in his debut novel, Prestige Drama…With humor, honesty and compassion, O’Reilly takes the pulse of a community in recovery, and invites us to feel it, too.”Bookpage
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“A short, tragicomic portrait of a community whose members have been variously marked by their memories of and involvement in the mid-20th Century Troubles…Its kaleidoscopic span, threaded with ghosts and hauntings, is undeniably pungent. A virtuoso chorus of community experience gives rise to undead trauma.”Kirkus Reviews
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“A hilarious and profound novel. Séamas O'Reilly has an acute ear for the rhythms of real speech, and for the lies we tell ourselves.”Ed Caesar, author of The Moth and the Mountain
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“There is hilarity and pathos on every page. Utterly engaging and authentic, Prestige Drama says so much about Derry and its people, about Irish culture and its pathologies, and about the challenges and necessity of storytelling in a heavily storied place.”Caoilinn Hughes, author of The Alternatives
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"Bristlingly funny, richly humane, and alive with insight into how we live with the complexities of a violent past. Séamas O'Reilly is a writer with a rare and vital comic gift."Mark O'Connell, author of Notes from an Apocalypse
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“A comedy about tragedy. Séamas O'Reilly has written a brutal, profound, and very funny novel.”Nina Stibbe, author of Love, Nina
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“Séamas O'Reilly is one of my favourite living writers. Honestly—there is nobody else who could write a book like this about tragedy, loss and who gets to tell a story, with such deft and moving wit.”Eva Wiseman, author of My Canary Yellow Star
