Hermione Hoby’s sophomore novel, VIRTUE, received a stellar endorsement from STAKES IS HIGH author Mychal Denzel Smith: “With VIRTUE, Hermione Hoby marries her hallmark lyrical genius with propulsive storytelling, resulting in an engaging and beautiful novel. VIRTUE resists easy moralizing, yet delivers an elbow-sharp, incisive dissection of the seductive nature of the privileges afforded to those on the favored side of inequality. Where it is heady it is also heartfelt, where it is critical it is also compassionate, and it is all of these things presented in some the most resplendent language committed to the page. The clarity and beauty of VIRTUE'S writing is matched by its author's multi-layered thinking and ability to capture the tension of the not-too distant past.” Riverhead Books will publish the novel on July 20, 2021.