The Proof of My Innocence
by Jonathan Coe· 2024
Blending state-of-the-nation novel, cosy crime caper and coming-of-age story, The Proof of My Innocence spins a genre-hopping tale of political extremists, forgotten novels and murdered academics. A blisteringly funny political critique wrapped up in a murder mystery.
When Phyl, a young literature graduate, moves back home with her parents, she soon finds herself frustrated by the narrow horizons of English country life. As for her budding plans of becoming a writer, those are going nowhere. But the chance discovery of a forgotten novelist from the 1980s stirs her into action, as does a visit from a family friend, Chris - especially when he tells her that he’s working on a political story that could put his life in danger.
Chris has been following the progress of an opaque think-tank, founded at Cambridge University in the 1980s, which has been steadily pushing the British government in a more extreme direction. After years in the political wilderness, they are finally poised to put their ideas into action.
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 re-imagines the cosy-crime caper, dark academia and the auto-biographical novel. This is a wickedly funny and razor-sharp novel, showing how the key to understanding the present can often be found in the murkiest corners of the past.
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Blending state-of-the-nation novel, cosy crime caper and coming-of-age story, The Proof of My Innocence spins a genre-hopping tale of political extremists, forgotten novels and murdered academics. A blisteringly funny political critique wrapped up in a murder mystery. When Phyl, a young literature graduate, moves back home with her parents, she soon finds herself frustrated by the narrow horizons of English country life. As for her budding plans of becoming a writer, those are going nowhere. But the chance discovery of a forgotten novelist from the 1980s stirs her into action, as does a visit from a family friend, Chris - especially when he tells her that he’s working on a political story that could put his life in danger. Chris has been following the progress of an opaque think-tank, founded at Cambridge University in the 1980s, which has been steadily pushing the British government in a more extreme direction. After years in the political wilderness, they are finally poised to put their ideas into action. 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 re-imagines the cosy-crime caper, dark academia and the auto-biographical novel. This is a wickedly funny and razor-sharp novel, showing how the key to understanding the present can often be found in the murkiest corners of the past.