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The Hypocrite
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 Sophia's father, a 61-year-old novelist who does not feel himself to be a bad or outdated person sits in a large theatre, surrounded by strangers, watching his daughter's first play.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.
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 Sophia's father, a 61-year-old novelist who does not feel himself to be a bad or outdated person sits in a large theatre, surrounded by strangers, watching his daughter's first play.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.
230 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 25, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 13, 2024
2,5
This was maybe too smart for me. The book description sounded good and it was certainly well-written, but I’m afraid it didn’t hold my attention.
Thank you Pantheon and Edelweiss for the ARC.
This was maybe too smart for me. The book description sounded good and it was certainly well-written, but I’m afraid it didn’t hold my attention.
Thank you Pantheon and Edelweiss for the ARC.
March 16, 2024
4,75
I am spoiled with literature as of late
I am spoiled with literature as of late
May 8, 2024
The premise of this novel is very promising: a daughter is made to transcribe a book by her famous author father. The experience has traumatised her and she writes a play about it. The story hinges on its multimedia and multifocal approach: it is a novel about a book that is being written (by the father) that is turned into a minutely described play (by the daughter). The plot is also structured like drama, and the prose dabbles in poetry. Still following along? I'll let one of the characters explain:
Let me get this straight, she murmurs quietly [...]. Ten years ago, you upset your daughter by writing a book she didn't like. Ten years later she has upset you by writing a play you don't like. (p. 194)
The story is set over the course of a day and the reader slowly sees the play unfolding through the eyes of the father. Hamya is a very detailed and descriptive visual writer, which is why the story works well. So far, so good.
Yet... It fell a little flat for me. I'll admit: it's a tight and cleverly constructed novel. But it doesn't work as a feminist story about a horrible man. Don't get me wrong, the father is by no means pleasant, but I kept waiting for something really abominable and unforgiveable to happen. If the point of the novel is not to explore these intergenerational conflicts, but to present criticism about the young, 'sensitive' generation, it sort of works better? Though I'm not sure that was intentional.
March 25, 2024
Jo Hamya is wonderful at conjuring a visual. It’s necessary since much of the story takes place within a theatre and the immediacy and edginess of a live play is difficult to convey without precision. The vulnerability of being a daughter, the conflicting loyalties to deeply flawed parents, and the sense of being justified in critiquing our parents publicly are all factored into the plot in The Hypocrite. The protagonist is an emerging playwright whose fame is largely the result of her infamous father, a provocative, misogynistic author of the Martin/Kingsley Amis school of hard drinking, smoking, treating women as disposable objects. For all the potential and the climax of this book, it fizzles at the final run. It’s the theatre work you slump out of, wondering why you didn’t just watch the TV adaptation at home. It should have been better, is my review in a nutshell.
January 24, 2024
tense and smart and exhausting, much like its characters. very very good
April 26, 2024
I savoured every page. Heard and felt every sentence I read and was hooked from start to finish.
Loved it
Loved it
May 4, 2024
Hi hello feeling so lazy with my reviews rn but the FATHER WOUND I feel like I never read about it / always through the boyfriend so this was so so great I loved it reminds me of hot milk so so much so YES
Big yes from me!!!!
Big yes from me!!!!
May 4, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion. This is a HIGHLY literate novel that is not an easy read. That being said, I enjoyed every second of it. The content played with a lot of my "daddy issues" but overall was a very interesting and satisfying read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews