Hamya moves to W&N with ‘dazzling’ second novel

Jo Hamya, author of Three Rooms (Jonathan Cape, 2021), has moved to W&N with her second novel The Hypocrite.

Lettice Franklin, publishing director, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to The Hypocrite and an untitled second novel rom Harriet Moore at David Higham Associates. Naomi Gibbs, executive editor at Pantheon, acquired North American rights.

In The Hypocrite, scheduled for publication in April 2024, an ageing father arrives at a West End theatre to watch the play his daughter Sophia has written. A well-established author in his own right, he does not yet know what the play is about; does not yet know that he features in it; that it centres on a Sicilian holiday the pair took nearly a decade before, when Sophia was on the cusp of adulthood.

Surrounded by strangers, he must watch his purported crimes play out in front of him. Meanwhile, in the theatre’s bar, Sophia and her mother go through a parallel reckoning of their own. This is a novel about generational divides, that asks: what happens when we stop idolising the generations above us—stop idolising our parents. What happens when we become frightened of the generations below us—frightened of our own children?

Franklin said The Hypocrite "confirms [Hamya’s] status as one of the finest authors of her generation. Jo’s second book is a deeply compelling story set over the course of one hot day in a London theatre, a moving portrait of a father-daughter relationship and a profoundly thought-provoking look at the complexity of generational divides. The Hypocrite will be essential reading for admirers of Deborah Levy, Natasha Brown or Gwendoline Riley.”

Hamya, who co-hosts the Booker Prize podcast, said: “The Hypocrite was born out of questions the pandemic and my first novel left behind. How well can anyone show care when siloed? How has the internet’s effect of accelerating and homogenising ideas of social justice impacted our ability to argue purposely? Sophia and her father have been challenging, often surprising characters to write about. Altogether, Three Rooms, The Hypocrite, and my third novel are loosely linked by a desire to evoke a portrait of contemporary Britain. I’m very grateful to Harriet and Naomi for their steadfast support, and to Lettice for her guidance and encouragement.”