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A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN TIME, THE DAILY MAIL, THE INDEPENDENT, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING AND THE ATLANTIC
‘Like Edward St Aubyn and Anne Enright, Hamya is so good on generational conflict, the friction of family, and the damage done by charming but complacent men’ DAVID NICHOLLS

‘A slippery, excellent exploration of sexual politics, creative appropriation, and family dynamics . . . It lands its ending with all the force of a sharp knife hurled at a bullseye’ VANITY FAIR

Sicily, 2010. Sophia, on the cusp of adulthood, spends a long hot summer with her father, a successful author. Over the course of that holiday, their relationship will fracture.

London, 2020. Sophia’s father, now 61, sits in a large theatre, surrounded by strangers, watching his daughter’s first play. A play that takes that Sicilian holiday as its subject and will force him to watch his purported crimes re-enacted. Set over the course of one climactic day, this is the story of a father and a daughter, of all that divides and binds them.

‘Wickedly funny. A perfect novel’ SARAH BERNSTEIN

‘Brilliant . . . With a precision of language that ought to make Hamya’s contemporaries quake and a tenderness you don’t see coming’ ATLANTIC

Publisher Review

I thought The Hypocrite was brilliant. Thrilling and unpredictable, as a story of misunderstanding and failed connection, told with a dreamy, Sofia Coppola-esque quality. As a portrayal of artistic creation fuelled by bitterness, The Hypocrite uncovers an uncomfortable truth: how a piece of art can both unify and alienate — Natasha Brown, author of ASSEMBLY The Hypocrite is an acid chamber piece that skewers the father, mother and daughter at its heart without denying them their messy, affecting humanity. It’s tense, it’s painful, it’s funny. I loved it — Chris Power, author of A LONELY MAN Sharp, witty and astute about parents and children, but never cruel; I enjoyed it hugely — David Nicholls, ONE DAY I loved Jo Hamya’s elegantly plotted and wickedly funny The Hypocrite. A perfect and perfectly merciless novel — Sarah Bernstein, author of the Booker-shortlisted STUDY FOR OBEDIENCE The Hypocrite is engrossing, acerbic and elegantly executed. Jo Hamya artfully reveals her characters’ flaws and vulnerabilities with humour, wit and style — Lauren Aimee Curtis, author of STRANGERS AT THE PORT A taut, poised portrait of a father-daughter relationship and the attitudinal clash between generations. — Madeleine Feeny * THE BOOKSELLER, Editor’s Choice * The Hypocrite is a sharp book, beautifully written. Jo Hamya poses complex questions – about art and ethics, family life and sexual mores – and withholds from her reader any easy answers — Rumaan Alam, author of LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND I relished the original emotional pulse of The Hypocrite, a compulsive tale of a reckoning with memory and responsibility played out in real time — Laura Bailey