Seamas O'Reilly – författare

'BRILLIANT . . . GLORIOUSLY VIVID' GUARDIAN'DISARMINGLY HILARIOUS' SUNDAY TIMES'ROLLICKING . . . CAUSTIC, WITHERING AND GENUINELY FUNNY' INDEPENDENT'FUNNY AND TRAGIC' TLS'SUCH AN ENTERTAINING READ' DAILY MAIL'BOISTEROUS' NEW YORK TIMES'A COMEDY ABOUT TRAGEDY. BRUTAL, PROFOUND AND VERY FUNNY' NINA STIBBEDerry is already abuzz with news that famous American actor, Monica Logue, has flown to the city and will be starring in a new series set during the Troubles. And then she goes missing . . .All eyes are on Diarmuid, the flaky scriptwriter who was the last to see Monica alive. From budding young actors hoping for a role to grieving parent whose story forms the backbone of the narrative; newspaper editors covering the mystery to taxi drivers hearing all the news from their clients, Prestige Drama follows the city's cast as they all try to locate themselves in Monica's disappearance. Séamas O'Reilly's debut novel is a comedy about dramatising tragedy, and the responsibilities of a teller to a tale. It brings to life the voices of a city, the people, families and communities who find themselves obsessed with, and terrified of, interrogating their past.'VERY FUNNY . . . [O'REILLY] HAS A GIFT FOR CAPTURING STRANGE BEHAVIOUR AND THE COMEDY IN ALL OF OUR UGLY HUMANITY' OBSERVER'SPARKLING WITH HEARTACHE AND WIT. I'M IN LOVE WITH EVERY CHARACTER' CAROLINE O'DONOGHUE'BRISTINGLY FUNNY, RICHLY HUMANE. SÉAMAS O'REILLY HAS A RARE AND VITAL COMIC GIFT' MARK O'CONNELL'I HOWLED WITH LAUGHTER. SÉAMAS IS A NATURAL STORYTELLER' ANNIE MAC'A HILARIOUS AND PROFOUND NOVEL' ED CAESAR'NOBODY ELSE COULD WRITE A BOOK LIKE THIS ABOUT TRAGEDY, LOSS AND WHO GETS TO TELL A STORY, WITH SUCH DEFT AND MOVING WIT' EVA WISEMAN'O'REILLY IS A STARTINGLY PERCEPTIVE WRITER' SPECTATOR

THE IRISH TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLERAN POST BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR'Gorgeous' Pandora Sykes'A rare and beautiful book' Marian Keyes'Tender, sad and side-splittingly funny' Annie MacManus'A delight' Dara Ó BriainSéamas O'Reilly's mother died when he was five, leaving him, his ten brothers and sisters and their beloved father in their sprawling bungalow in rural Derry. It was the 1990s; the Troubles were a background rumble (most of the time), and Séamas at that point was more preoccupied with dinosaurs, Star Wars and the actual location of heaven than the political climate.Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? is a book about a family of argumentative, loud, musical, sarcastic, grief-stricken siblings, shepherded into adulthood by a man whose foibles and reticence were matched only by his love for his children and his determination that they would flourish. It is the moving, often amusing and completely unsentimental story of a boy growing up in a family bonded by love, loss and fairly relentless mockery.'A heartfelt tribute to an alarmingly large family held together by a quietly heroic father' Arthur Mathews, co-creator of Father Ted and Toast of London'Not only hilarious, tender, absurd, delightful and charming, but written with such skill as to render it unforgettable' Nina Stibbe