Virtue

A powerful novel of youth, aspiration, and moral conflict, as a young man is seduced by the mirage of glamour—at a terrible cost

Arriving in New York City for an internship at an elite but fading magazine, Luca feels like a fraud: smart but not worldly, privileged but broke, and uncertain how to navigate a new era of social change. Among his peers is Zara, a young Black woman whose sharp wit and frank views on injustice create tensions in the office. Yet Luca is equally drawn to an attractive and wealthy white couple—a prominent artist and her filmmaker husband—whose lifestyle he finds both alien and alluring. As summer arrives, Luca is swept up in the fever dream of their marriage, joining them at their beach house, nurturing an infatuation both frustrating and dangerous. Only after he learns of a spectacular tragedy in the city he has left behind does he begin to recognize how swiftly action—or inaction—can lead to consequence.

In vivid and moving language, Hermione Hoby (“a writer of extreme intelligence, insight, style and beauty” —Ann Patchett) offers a clear-eyed, unsettling novel of the dangers of privilege and the costs of complacency.