Jonathan Coe: The Proof of My Innocence
- €20
- The Maritime Hotel
- 16/07/2026 - 8:30 pm
The Proof of My Innocence is a blistering political critique wrapped up in a murder mystery from bestselling author, Jonathan Coe. Darting between decades and genres, it 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.
‘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.’ The Guardian
‘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
Jonathan will be in conversation with Deirdre O’Shaughnessy.
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 think-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?
Writers
Writer
Jonathan Coe
Writer
