WINNER OF THE 2025 ADCI LITERARY PRIZE
BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK

'Powerful, joyful, heartbreaking and so funny all at once' SARA NISHA ADAMS

'Every now and then a book comes along that changes the way you see the world, and this is one of them' FREYA SAMPSON

Hattie has a plan.

Step 1: Leave her life in London behind and never look back.

Step 2: Move to a cabin in the middle of nowhere, with only the endless woods and starry skies for neighbours.

Step 3: Start her new life where nobody knows the truth about her.

But there's a major problem with Step 3... When Hattie starts a new job and makes new friends, her lies start slipping through her fingers. As her carefully built facade begins to crack, she has no choice but to face the person she's been running from all along: herself.

If you've ever felt a little lost or struggled to accept yourself, you will see yourself in the pages of this book. Just as hilarious as it is heartbreaking, this unputdownable page-turner is perfect for fans of Kirsty Capes and Daisy Buchanan.

'An uncompromising, sharp and funny novel that took me from laughter to heart-aching tenderness... A fresh voice on the contemporary scene full of sharp insight and deeply funny bones' Abigail Mann, author of The Lonely Fajita

'Filled with heart and depth, this joyous book will stay with me for a very long time!' Tess Amy, author of The Confidence Games

'Sharp, witty and raw... This is a book everyone should pick off the shelves' Rebecca Netley, author of The Whistling

'Alter Ego was impossible to put down. Joyful and sad, profound and moving, I laughed and cried' Ella Allbright, author of The Last Charm

'Eye-opening, moving and highly original' Laura Price, author of Single Bald Female

About the Author
Helen Heckety is a writer and performer from Kent. She is also disabled. She has written and toured two solo plays, one called To Helen Back and another called Helen Highwater which premiered at the Southbank London Lit Festival 2019. She has also written a poetry collection called The Underlook, which explores medical trauma, bad psychics and the case of a missing piglet. She will be forever in mourning for her hamster, Mahatma Hamster, who was her first friend to find out she'd got a literary agent, and they celebrated with strawberries. This is her debut novel, and she hopes it sells well so she can get more tattoos.

Reviews

I adored Alter Ego. A book that can truly make you both laugh and cry. Written with such honesty and warmth, it's powerful, joyful, heartbreaking and so funny all at once. A brilliant debut

* Sara Nisha Adams, author of The Reading List *
Every now and then a book comes along that changes the way you see the world, and this is one of them. Uplifting and angry, hilarious and heartbreaking, it's a story about toxic friendship, self-acceptance and the challenges of finding one's place in the world. I absolutely adored it -- Freya Sampson, author of The Last Library
Alter Ego is the book I never knew I needed. Filled with heart and depth, this joyous book will stay with me for a very long time! -- Tess Amy, author of The Confidence Games
Sharp, witty and raw, Heckety's novel exploring a young woman's experience of living with a hidden disability makes a compulsive and ultimately uplifting read. This is a book everyone should pick off the shelves -- Rebecca Netley, author of The Whistling
An uncompromising, sharp and funny novel that took me from laughter to heart-aching tenderness... A fresh voice on the contemporary scene full of sharp insight and deeply funny bones * Abigail Mann, author of The Lonely Fajita *
A brilliant book about disability, friendship and discovering who your true friends are. It's eye-opening, moving and highly original. * Laura Price, author of Single Bald Female *



Book Information
ISBN 9780349130644
Author Helen Heckety
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint Renegade Books
Publisher John Murray Press
Weight(grams) 310g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 130mm * 30mm