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Who Killed My Father
Who Killed My Father
Apr 10, 2025 9:09 PM

Author:Edouard Louis,Lorin Stein

Who Killed My Father

Who Killed My Father is the story of a tough guy – the story of the little boy I never was. The story of my father.

‘What a beautiful book’ MAX PORTER

In Who Killed My Father, Édouard Louis explores key moments in his father’s life, and the tenderness and disconnects in their relationship.

Told with the fire of a writer determined on social justice, and with the compassion of a loving son, the book urgently and brilliantly engages with issues surrounding masculinity, class, homophobia, shame and social poverty.

It unflinchingly takes aim at systems that disadvantage those they seek to exclude – those who have their expectations, hopes and passions crushed by a society which gives them little thought.

Édouard Louis is the vanguard of France’s new generation of political writers’

Evening Standard

Reviews

Edouard Louis [is] the vanguard of France’s new generation of political writers

—— Arjun Neil Alim , Evening Standard

Edouard Louis… speaks with an emotional authenticity and a stylistic confidence that is hard to ignore

—— Tim Adams , Observer

This short work tackles the intersections of class, gender and sexuality... Louis gives voice to the way the cruel, crude hegemony of masculinity has essentially destroyed his father’s life, making him “as much a victim of the violence” he inflicted as of the violence he endured

—— Lauren Elkin , Guardian

This valuable tale brings emotion to a discussion led by numbers, encouraging us to remember the real human lives affected by policy and political point-scoring

—— Todd Gillespie , Financial Times

To understand what is happening now in France, or indeed, all over Europe, this is an essential text

—— Irish Times

[A] small but hugely powerful book… Louis has further enhanced his growing reputation as the head of France's new wave of revolutionary writers

—— Paul Simon , Morning Star

With great clarity, this short autobiography speaks of 21st-century working-class lives tarnished by shame and the erosion of hopes and ambitions. Louis and his father appear to recover from their personal losses of love and joy and family life; but it feels too late and at too great a cost

—— Martin Myers , Times Higher Education

A masterful work from an underrepresented voice, which reminds us that the political is intrinsically personal

—— Independent

It's a deeper, funnier, realer, more poignant Bridget Jones. I have never read a more accurate account of what it feels like to be a parent, especially a single one.

—— Philippa Perry

Beautiful, wild, painfully honest, hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking... a soulful, truthful homage to a life lived with appetite, intensity and wonder.

—— Dolly Alderton

Finally the book that single mothers across the globe have been waiting for... Funny, dark and true.

—— Caitlin Moran

Reading The Hungover Games is a bit like having a new boyfriend: you think about it every second you're not with it and long for everyone to go away so that you can just lie down with it and savour its gorgeous, funny rudeness.

—— Pandora Sykes

Gorgeous, unflinching, tender, sad, affirming and cackle-worthy. You don't need to be a mother, have one in your life or hope to become one, for the razor-sharp observations chronicled here to ring true.

—— Jemma Crew , Northern Echo

I adored this debut memoir... Freewheeling, hugely funny... and genuinely soul-mining.

—— Caroline Sanderson , Bookseller *Editor's Choice*

Ebullient, playful and creative... By turns caustic, astute and very, very funny.

—— Tanya Sweeney , Irish Independent

This is the first time I've read anything about motherhood that didn't bore me... It's all really unconventional but laugh-out-loud funny.

—— Sara Pascoe , Observer

Frank and fearless... a glorious validation to all parents doing it solo.

—— Sarra Manning , Red

Hits that sweet spot between laugh-out-loud funny, with its accounts of first dates, LA wackiness and personal mishaps, and a lyrical lament for a life of paternity tests, an absent father and the absence of raves.

—— Eithne Farry , Sunday Express

Joyfully crude and hilarious... Heawood is refreshingly unapologetic.

—— Eleanor Halls , Daily Telegraph

Achingly tender and snort-inducingly funny.

—— Sarah Hughes , i, *Summer Reads 2020*

Thought-provoking and insightful.

—— Metro

Unflinchingly honest, emotionally raw, and surprisingly sweet.

—— SheerLuxe

Raw and funny, Heawood’s memoir celebrates the messiness of life and motherhood with boldness, panache, and unexpected moments of real poignancy. An uncensored and eccentric delight.

—— Booklist

Heawood writes with warmth and wit about life as a single mother.

—— Rachel Cooke , Observer, *Books to Look Out For in 2020*

Rejoice! One of our favourite journalists Sophie Heawood – known for her hilarity and honesty – publishes her first book this year. It's a memoir about being a single mother when you haven't quite worked out how to look after yourself.

—— Arielle Tchiprout , Red *The best books we can't wait to read in 2020*

[Heawood] shares her story with huge wit and sharp observation.

—— Hannah Stephenson , Irish Examiner, *12 of the best new reads for summer*

A tender and hilarious account of her life as a single mother.

—— Sophie Morris , i

This [is an] incredibly candid and often LOLs memoir about how it feels to raise a baby on your own when you're more into negronis than nappies.

—— Cosmopolitan

Reading Heawood's often outrageous and occasionally undignified anecdotes was the perfect tonic during the second national lockdown. Though hilariously funny, her story of accidental pregnancy is also tender and poignant, with her accounts of motherhood feeling far less common through a single-parent lens.

—— Independent

A tender and funny account of single parenthood

—— Guardian

Packed with humour and honesty, it's also tender, moving and relatable, detailing Heawood's own evolution and growth alongside her young daughter's, and the highs and lows of solo parenting.

—— Harpers Bazaar
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