{"product_id":"middle-england-winner-of-the-costa-novel-award-2019","title":"Jonathan Coe: Middle England [2018] paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'THE BOOK EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT' \u003ci\u003eTHE TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e'It was tempting to think, at times like this, that some bizarre hysteria had gripped the British people' \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBeginning eight years ago on the outskirts of Birmingham, where car factories have been replaced by Poundland, and London, where frenzied riots give way to Olympic fever, \u003ci\u003eMiddle England \u003c\/i\u003efollows a brilliantly vivid cast of characters through a time of immense change.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere are newlyweds Ian and Sophie, who disagree about the future of the country and, possibly, the future of their relationship; Doug, the political commentator who writes impassioned columns about austerity from his Chelsea townhouse, and his radical teenage daughter who will stop at nothing in her quest for social justice; Benjamin Trotter, who embarks on an apparently doomed new career in middle age, and his father Colin, whose last wish is to vote in the European referendum. And within all these lives is the story of modern England: a story of nostalgia and delusion; of bewilderment and barely-suppressed rage.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Following in the footsteps of \u003ci\u003eThe Rotters' Club\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Closed Circle\u003c\/i\u003e, Jonathan Coe's new novel is \u003ci\u003ethe\u003c\/i\u003e novel for our strange new times. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'From post-industrial Birmingham to the London riots and the current political gridlock, [\u003ci\u003eMiddle England\u003c\/i\u003e] takes in family, literature and love in a comedy for our times' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Coe shows an understanding of this country that goes beyond what most cabinet ministers can muster . . . his light, funny writing makes you feel better'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'\u003ci\u003eMiddle England\u003c\/i\u003e is a full-blooded state of the nation novel, and it brings us bang up-to-date'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCoe is an extraordinarily deft plotter...the book zips along...he tackles big ambitious themes, in this case the effect of politics on people's lives, and political opinions on personal relations' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'What is striking about Coe is not so much his flight from Enghlishness as his ambivalent embrace of it\u003c\/b\u003e ' \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Slick . . . stylishly engineered . . . you'll marvel at the extraordinary attention to detail'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eSpectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Coe's comic critique of a divided country dazzles . . . Properly laugh-out-loud funny . . . it is also incisive and brilliant about our divided country and the deep chasms revealed by the vote to leave. Do not miss'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Bookseller\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Coe, Jonathan","offers":[{"title":"Good","offer_id":47120594698579,"sku":"XG80241309476","price":5.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0616\/4001\/6057\/files\/coe-jonathan-middle-england-winner-of-the-costa-novel-award-2019-xg80241309476-52319851807059.jpg?v=1695656667","url":"https:\/\/keatsandchapman.info\/products\/middle-england-winner-of-the-costa-novel-award-2019","provider":"Chapters Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}