The Hypocrite

Praise

Praise for The Hypocrite

A Most Anticipated Book of the Year from Town and Country, Lit Hub, Electric Literature

“Sharp, witty and astute about parents and children, but never cruel; I enjoyed it hugely.”
—David Nicholls, author of One Day

“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

“Witty and devastatingly acute.”
—The Guardian

“I was instantly pulled in by the ingenious structure of this novel…All the various strands braid into a fraught, compelling conversation, not just between parents and children, but between generations, and even between modes of art and understanding.”
—Lit Hub

“I have rarely underlined so many passages in a book…Hamya’s writing is tightly wound, and continually constricting: no one escapes her judgement. There is empathy amid the cool critique…But all the characters are also revealed to have their own hypocrisies, and a powerful sense of self-righteous victimhood…From curtain up, The Hypocrite offers forensic and pitiless insights into an embodied generation gap—everyone believing they’re in the right; everyone, of course, still getting things wrong. So who is the hypocrite of the title? Oh, probably all of them.”
—iNews
 
“Acerbic…Hamya writes with real wit. Her descriptions are rich…Since the publication of her debut novel, Three Rooms, her style has rightly been compared to Rachel Cusk’s. With this original novel—sensitively observed and artfully paced—she breaks out into something of her own.”
—Literary Review

“Brilliant. Thrilling and unpredictable, it struck me 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

“A darkly comic family drama that keeps us guessing right up to the end…Hamya’s prose is crisp and fluid.”
—Times Literary Supplement

“The drama of the story’s intergenerational strife keeps us rapt on its own terms, but also functions as an even-handed cultural satire targeting social media-powered morality in the 21st century. Written with cool precision as well as barely veiled glee, it confirms Hamya as one of the sharpest new writers around.”
—Daily Mail

“The Hypocrite poses the conundrum with wit, tension and unsparing insight into the generational divide. Here, Jo Hamya has written a powerful allegory for the culture wars at large.”
—Prospect Magazine

“I loved Jo Hamya’s elegantly plotted and wickedly funny The Hypocrite. A perfect and perfectly merciless novel.”
—Sarah Bernstein, author of 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 Dolores

“Taut, poised.”
—The Bookseller, Editors’ Choice

“Gender roles, generation gaps, the nature of genius: Hamya explores big ideas but is at her best offering precise observations…A biting novel of art, inheritance, and evolving mores.”
—Kirkus

“Provocative… None of the characters escape Hamya’s bemused and excoriating view, nor are there any easy answers to the questions raised about expressions of gender and privilege in art. Fans of Anne Enright’s The Wren, the Wren ought to take note.”
—Publishers Weekly