The Proof of My Innocence
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The Proof of My Innocence
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Narrated by:
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Sam Woolf
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Alana Maria
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Charlotte Worthing
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Mark Stobbart
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Roy McMillan
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By:
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Jonathan Coe
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
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?
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.
'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
'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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What listeners say about The Proof of My Innocence
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bastet Pybus
- 14-11-24
Brilliant
I love Jonathan Coe’s writing and have been a fan for 30 years. This is one of his best, deliciously enjoyable for its wit, satire, and sheer formal brilliance. The performances are excellent.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mrs Alison M Howard
- 24-11-24
Sorry it had to end
I love the way in which Coe incorporates characters from previous novels, the story's breadth and how it develops and of course the characters. The humour is rich and in all the right places. But I did become a tad disinterested by the victims daughter and friends inquiries. He manages to make his novels clever and yet ordinary but always so enjoyable.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- DartmoorDiva
- 17-11-24
Clever and convoluted
I’ve enjoyed most of Jonathan Coe’s previous novels but I think this one is probably my favourite. Convoluted and clever, I really didn’t spot most of the twists coming! An interesting structure with everything weaving together well - and that’s before you even take into account all the wonderful political sideswipes and social statements. A very entertaining, witty and thought provoking novel.
My only slightly negative comment would be that I didn’t find either of the female narrator particularly effective.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rachel Redford
- 14-12-24
What a blast!
I think Jonathan Coe had an absolute blast writing this, his fifteenth novel. He must have had to draw up extremely complex spread sheets of what all his characters were doing in the present and in the past. What a tangled web indeed, sometimes bewildering to the listener!
Coe swipes at everything and everyone from Liz Truss’s lamentable brief premiership, queues for sighting the Queen’s coffin, the vileness of those with power and privilege, worthless mystery novels and the dire state of book publication then and now, the pursuit of money and the abandonment of principles in the hierarchy, decades-old dark and dirty duplicity in a Cambridge College resurfacing in the present day, the deplorable state of employment with rubbish jobs, and zero hours, the deadly hold of wokery... The list goes on and on. It’s a raucous, passionate, outrageous, witty melange of everything that’s wrong about our present society made wickedly witty and enjoyable.
I liked young Phyl fresh from university with a useless degree living at home and working in a sushi bar. So far so credible, but her final career and choice of partner is gloriously and wickedly woke!
There is a great deal that is sharp and clever throughout, but I particularly liked the theme of the ballad of Lord Randall which one character would mumble in his sleep. I can’t say more without spoiling what I thought was the cleverest (if ridiculous) strand in this massive plait of invention.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dearauntie
- 11-11-24
coelicious
Plotted like an atomic clock, wheels within wheels (oops there fails the simile), it's the usual Coe treat. He's one of the few writers I buy on release, though I wish I hadn't started and had a fresh What A Carve-Up in front of me. Coe never lacks the necessary biro.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jo Pellatt
- 18-12-24
Fun thriller
Really enjoyed the story. Many will enjoy but personally I found the multiple narrators quite jarring.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- WomanoftheWorld
- 27-11-24
Okay
I finished it, which would not be the case if I disliked it. Some of the story lines were amusing/engaging, but it was a bit unsatisfying as a whole. Also, didn’t Truss last only 42 days, not 50 as claimed in the book? A week more and the UK would have sunk into the ocean!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Smdbush
- 20-11-24
Not a favourite of Jonathan Coe’s novels
The plot seemed to go off a little about half way through and some of the characters were not quite believable. As a native of Cambridge, it was good to hear those references, which were well researched.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Estoban
- 17-12-24
Originality. Done well
Very well written, great narration with some clever angles & twists. Will look for more by Jonathan Coe
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Janet
- 16-12-24
Wonderfully entertaining and thought-provoking
This is a great listen, with ingenious plotting, interesting and engaging characters, an entertaining variety of literary genres and fascinating political and philosophical commentary, all woven around Liz Truss’s brief and ignominious premiership, The performances are excellent throughout. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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