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‘A lean, careening thrill … one of my favourite books of the year’ Megan Nolan
‘Riveting reading’ The Times
‘Irresistible … A page-turning story of sex, power, and money’ Vogue, Best Books of 2024 So Far

A razor-sharp novel that skewers the life of the uber-rich in the vein of The White Lotus, with shades of The Talented Mr Ripley and The Graduate

Conor is a recent graduate from a law school no one has heard of. Without any job prospects and needing to support his chronically ill mother, he takes a summer job teaching tennis at the affluent gated community of Cutters Neck, Massachusetts. One of his first students is Catherine, a magnetic divorcee keen to hire him for more than advice on her serve. What begins as a transactional arrangement soon develops into an intoxicating sexual relationship.

Things become even more complicated when Conor encounters Emily, with whom he has his first taste of real intimacy. Against his better judgment, he soon finds himself living a double life that inevitably leads to disaster.

Conor knows how hard it is to win against those with money and power. In his fight for survival, he has to put emotion aside and play with only his wits – after all, in tennis, love means nothing.

‘Wayne’s plot was made to gallop, and it does not disappoint’ New York Times

‘Terrific’ Wall Street Journal

‘Well-paced, smart … A savvy take on sex, money and power … A movie-ready page turner’ Washington Post

Publisher Review

‘A lean, careening thrill of a book that kept me awake half the night and away from work the following day. Conor O’Toole’s steady embroilment with the wealthy people he teaches tennis to is drawn with exquisite dread. Wayne has a genius for brief observations which reveal whole reams of truth about class, poverty, and competition, while also never allowing the hideously compelling story to let up for a moment. Exhilarating, cutting, and funny, The Winner is already one of my favourite books of the year’ Megan Nolan, author of Ordinary Human Failings

‘A timely, topical novel that still somehow feels like a classic’ Liz Moore, New York Times bestselling author of Long Bright River

‘A riveting novel about how to have the rich and eat them, too. Sexy, breathless, and brutal’ Julia May Jonas, author of Vladimir

‘The Winner is a harrowing romp through the bedrooms of the rich and entitled. A gripping, provocative, and delightfully shocking novel’ Nathan Hill, New York Times bestselling author of The Nix

‘A sexy, darkly comic thriller … Wayne’s writing is at once breezy and sharp as Conor gradually transforms from a sympathetic scholarship kid to a junior Patrick Bateman’ New York Post

‘Terrific’ Wall Street Journal

‘No one writes male characters (and their flaws) like Teddy Wayne’ LitHub

‘Still not over Succession? … The Winner takes a look at the uber-wealthy through the eyes of a young tennis coach’ Sunday Times Style

‘Irresistible … A page-turning story of sex, power, and money’ Vogue, Best Books of 2024 So Far