Description

What happens when we stop idolising the generations above us? Stop idolising our own parents?

What happens when we become frightened of the generations below us? Frightened of our own children?

The Aeolian islands, 2010. Sophia, on the cusp of adulthood, spends a long hot summer with her father in Sicily. There she falls in love for the first time. There she works as her father’s amanuensis, typing the novel he dictates, a story about sex and gender divides. There, their relationship fractures.

London, Summer 2020. Sophia’s father, a 61-year-old novelist who does not feel himself to be a bad or outdated person sits in a large theatre, surrounded by strangers, watching his daughter’s first play. A play that takes that Sicilian holiday is its subject. A play that will force him to watch his purported crimes play out in front of him.

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