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The Proof of My Innocence: A hilarious political novel wrapped in a murder mystery, from the bestselling author of Middle England
Jonathan Coe
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Description for The Proof of My Innocence: A hilarious political novel wrapped in a murder mystery, from the bestselling author of Middle England
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'A brilliant, shrewd, satirical novel – gimlet-eyed, funny, very clever and a searchingly profound look at the state of this strange country of ours' William Boyd
'My comfort read: anything by Jonathan Coe' Bob Mortimer
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Post-university life doesn’t suit Phyl. Time passes slowly living back home with her parents, working a zero-hour contract serving Japanese food to holidaymakers at Heathrow’s Terminal 5. As for her budding plans of becoming a writer, those are going nowhere.
That is, until family friend Chris comes to stay. He’s been on the path to uncover a sinister ... Read morethink-tank, founded at Cambridge University in the 1980s, that’s been scheming to push the British government in a more extreme direction. One that’s finally poised to put their plans into action.
But speaking truth to power can be dangerous - and power will stop at nothing to stay on top.
As Britain finds itself under the leadership of a new Prime Minister whose tenure will only last for seven weeks, Chris pursues his story to a conference being held deep in the Cotswolds, where events take a sinister turn and a murder enquiry is soon in progress. But will the solution to the mystery lie in contemporary politics, or in a literary enigma that is almost forty years old?
Darting between decades and genres, THE PROOF OF MY INNOCENCE is a wickedly funny and razor-sharp new novel from one of Britain’s most beloved novelists, showing how the key to understanding the present can often be found in the murkiest corners of the past.
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'Coe shows an understanding of this country that goes beyond what most cabinet ministers can muster . . . he is a master of satire but pokes fun subtly, without ever being cruel, biting or blatant . . . his light, funny writing makes you feel better' Evening Standard
'A novelist who gains in range and reputation with every book' Pat Barker
'Please, God … if there’s a next life, let me write as well as Jonathan Coe' Anthony Bourdain
'Probably the best English novelist of his generation' Nick Hornby
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Product Details
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 4 to 8 working days
About Jonathan Coe
Jonathan Coe was born in Birmingham in 1961. He is the award-winning, bestselling author of 14 novels, which include The Accidental Woman, What a Carve Up!, The House of Sleep, The Rotters’ Club, The Rain Before It Falls, Expo 58, Middle England, Mr Wilder and Me and Bournville. He has won the Costa Novel Award, the Prix du Livre Européen, ... Read morethe John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the Prix Médicis Étranger and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, among many others. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His work been translated into 22 languages. Suspended Moment, an album of his musical compositions recorded live in Italy, was released on the British Progressive Jazz label in 2023. Jonathan Coe lives in London. Show Less
Reviews for The Proof of My Innocence: A hilarious political novel wrapped in a murder mystery, from the bestselling author of Middle England
Wonderfully accomplished and darkly funny. The Proof of My Innocence is a murder mystery, a satire on Britain's ever right-ward drift, culminating in Liz Truss; and an inquiry into truth and perception. Jonathan Coe gets better and better
Luke Harding A brilliant, shrewd, satirical novel – gimlet-eyed, funny, very clever and a searchingly profound look at the state of ... Read morethis strange country of ours.
William Boyd The premier satirist of great British crapness is on killer form in this gag-a-minute mystery - who but Coe would think to structure a book around the abysmal transport police mantra “See It. Say It. Sorted”?
Observer
Coe channels his anger and frustration at the direction his country has taken, as well as his abiding love for it, into prose of enduring beauty
Guardian
The funniest serious novelist practising in this country
Independent
A funny, smart and innovative exploration of contemporary British political dynamics
Nussaibah Younis A wonderfully farcical and absurd book that puts into perspective the political chaos of post-Brexit Britain
Foyles
Deeply pleasurable, and a lot of fun. You emerge from it glowing
iPaper A new Jonathan Coe is always a treat . . . Coe is a master at exploring the pains of modern life
Rosamund Urwin
The Times
For many in the UK, the last fourteen years have felt like living in an irredeemably bad novel. How wonderful, then, to mark the changes with Jonathan Coe’s wise and playful reprise of the years in which we lost the plot - and maybe gained some gentleness in its unravelling
Lyndsey Stonebridge My comfort read: anything by Jonathan Coe
Bob Mortimer A novelist who gains in range and reputation with every book
Pat Barker Please, God … if there’s a next life, let me write as well as Jonathan Coe
Anthony Bourdain I was delighted by Jonathan Coe’s The Proof of My Innocence. It’s clever and political – while also being very funny
John Self Wonderful storytelling
Paul Merton on The Rotters’ Club Fantastic, wickedly funny and gripping, I couldn’t put this down. Coe has written a beautifully crafted mystery that dovetails as a sharp, smart state of the nation novel
Simon McCleave Light as a souffle and tremendously funny
Observer
Coe knows how to write a novel: it is well paced, he makes complex plots look easy, he has a way of marshalling a large cast of characters that never feels contrived, the prose is pleasant and not invasive, and he is — rare for a novelist — funny
FT Astute, enlightened … Both moving and funny. As we’d expect from Coe
Ben Elton on Middle England A sustained feat of humour, suspense and polemic, full of twists and ironies
Hilary Mantel on What a Carve Up! An insightful and moving story about how memories can or cannot be passed down through the generations
Kazuo Ishiguro on Mr Wilder and Me Splendidly disturbing
Anita Brookner on The House of Sleep For all its irony, its tricksiness, its surface light-heartedness, The Proof of My Innocence is a novel earnestly using fiction as a way of telling the truth
The Arts Desk
Full of humour and warmth, this re-imagining of the cosy crime genre is irresistible
Hatchards
Full of energy... a madcap caper, a sideways memoir, a tricksy jeu d’esprit that is also a quiet defence of fiction in a post-truth age, and enormous fun to read
Guardian
Probably the best English novelist of his generation
Nick Hornby Coe is among the handful of novelists who can tell us something about the temper of our times
Observer
Coe shows an understanding of this country that goes beyond what most cabinet ministers can muster . . . he is a master of satire but pokes fun subtly, without ever being cruel, biting or blatant . . . his light, funny writing makes you feel better
Evening Standard
Coe has huge powers of observation and enormous literary panache
Sunday Times
British novelists love to diagnose the state of the nation. Few do it better than Jonathan Coe, who writes with warmth and subversive glee about social change
Spectator
Few contemporary writers can make a success of the state of the nation novel: Jonathan Coe is one of them
New Statesman
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