Hideous Kinky

infobox Book |
name = Hideous Kinky
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First paperback edition cover by "Penguin Books"
author = Esther Freud
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Autobiographical, Novel
publisher = Hamish Hamilton
release_date = 30 January 1992
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 192 pp (first edition, hardback)
isbn = ISBN 0-241-13179-0 (first edition, hardback)
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Hideous Kinky" is an autobiographical novel by Esther Freud, daughter of British painter Lucian Freud, and great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud. In 1998 a film adaptation was produced. It depicts her hippy childhood in Morocco with her elder sister Bella.

Plot summary

A young mother and her two daughters travel to Marrakech, Morocco during the 1960s. The mother, Julia, is disenchanted by the dreary conventions of English life, hence the journey. They live in a low-rent Marrakesh hotel and make a living out of making hand sewn dolls and with some money sent by the girls' father, a poet in London.

Whilst the mother explores Sufism and quests for personal fulfillment, the daughters rebel. The elder, Bea, attempting to recreate her English life, wants to get an education and insists on going to school. The younger, Lucy, dreams of trivial things, like mashed potatoes, but also yearns for a father. Her hopes settle on a most unlikely candidate.

The girls match their mother with Bilal, a Moroccan con man and acrobat; the relationship turns sexual and he moves in, becoming almost a surrogate father. However, Julia's friend Eva encourages her to travel to Algiers and study with a Sufi master at a school that advocates the "annihilation of the ego". As money vanishes, Julia's response is to claim that "God will provide", albeit in the person of Bilal.

Characters in "Hideous Kinky"

*Mum – The mother
*Lucy – The five year old narrator
*Bea – The narrator's seven year old sister
*Bilal – Moroccan acrobat
*Linda – Mother's friend, English, worked as a typist.
*Marreta – married to John, the mother's sister
*John – married to Marreta
*Akari – the estate agent

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

In 1998 the novel was adapted into a film Hideous Kinky; directed by Gillies MacKinnon.

Release details

*1992, UK, Hamish Hamilton ISBN 0-241-13179-0, Pub date 30 January 1992, hardback (First edition)
*1992, USA, Harcourt ISBN 0-15-140216-7, Pub date ? July 1992, hardback
*1993, UK, Penguin Books ISBN 0-14-017412-5, Pub date 25 February 1993, paperback
*1998, USA, W.W. Norton ISBN 0-88001-593-4, Pub date ? April 1998, paperback
*1999, UK, CSA Word ISBN 1-901768-20-1, Pub date ? January 1999, Audio book cassette (narrated by Esther Freud)
*1999, USA, ScreenPress Books ISBN 1-901680-25-8, Pub date 11 March 1999, paperback (Film screenplay)

External links

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2008/sep/16/esther.freud Esther Freud speaks to John Mullan about Hideous Kinky on The Guardian book club podcast]