Description

WINNER OF THE THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2019

‘The book everyone is talking about’ The Times

‘A comedy for our times’ Guardian
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The country is changing and, up and down the land, cracks are appearing – within families and between generations.

In the Midlands Benjamin Trotter is trying to help his aged father navigate a Britain that seems to have forgotten he exists, whilst in London his friend Doug doesn’t understand why his teenage daughter is eternally enraged. Meanwhile, newlyweds Sophie and Ian can find nothing to agree on except the fact that their marriage is on the rocks . . .

A hilarious follow-up to The Rotters’ Club and Closed Circle, Jonathan Coe captures the state of our nation once again!
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‘Coe’s back with a bang. Middle England is the novel about Brexit we need’ Daily Telegraph

‘A pertinent, entertaining study of a nation in crisis’ Financial Times, Books of the Year

‘Very funny. Coe – a writer of uncommon decency – reminds us that the way out of this mess is through moderation, through compromise, through that age-old English ability to laugh at ourselves’ Observer

Written with his signature wit, Jonathan Coe’s unmissable new novel, Bournville, is available to pre-order now!

Publisher Review

This book is sublimely good. State of the (Brexit) nation novel to end them all, but also funny, tender, generous, so human and intelligent about age and love as well as politics -- India Knight Coe can make you smile, sigh, laugh; he has abundant sympathy for his characters * Scotsman * From post-industrial Birmingham to the London riots and the current political gridlock, it takes in family, literature and love in a comedy for our times * Guardian * An astute, enlightened and enlightening journey into the heart of our current national identity crisis. Both moving and funny. As we'd expect from Coe -- Ben Elton Let me add to the chorus of praise for Jonathan Coe's new book Middle England. Easily my favourite of his since What a Carve Up! Which did for Thatcherism what Middle England does for Brexit -- John Crace Jonathan Coe's Middle England is brilliantly insightful on the times we are living in -- Mishal Husain, Books of the Year * Big Issue * This book is sublimely good. State of the (Brexit) nation novel to end them all, but also funny, tender, generous, so human and intelligent about age and love as well as politics -- India Knight The first great Brexit novel -- Sathnam Sanghera 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 * The Bookseller * A copper bottomed masterpiece -- Barney Norris The great chronicler of Englishness * Independent * The beauty of Jonathan Coe's new novel, Middle England, is the way it tracks the seemingly unconnected moments that brought Britain to its knees - and with devastating delicacy, too -- Eva Wiseman * Observer * Coe is an extraordinarily deft plotter . . . he tackles big ambitious themes, in this case the effect of politics on people's lives, and political opinions on personal relations * Mail on Sunday * Middle England is a full-blooded state of the nation novel, and it brings us bang up-to-date * Sunday Times * Brilliant -- Nicola Sturgeon Very funny . . . Exceptionally good . . . Delightful -- BBC Radio 4 * Saturday Review * Sparkled with all the acuity of his best novels . . . Uproarious and always on-the-money -- Books of the Year * Evening Standard * Middle England takes all that is memorable and moving about Coe's body of work and throws it at the present emergency -- Alex Clark * TLS * Middle England combines top-class soap opera storytelling with melancholy insight into what it means to be English * Metro * Coe is as funny and tender as ever, restoring some humanity to the tumultuous societal backdrop * Grazia * This is a picture of England that comes from a place of compassion and understanding * inews * Millions of words have been and will be written on Brexit but few will get to the heart of why it is happening as incisively as Middle England -- John Boyne * Irish Times * Tackling his characters' opposing points of view, he draws a portrait of a recognisable Britain baffled by its loss of industry and jobs, and of everyday people shocked by a rise of acceptable racism and xenophobia. It's also very, very funny * Stylist * In Middle England, Coe shows an understanding of this country that goes beyond what most cabinet ministers can muster . . . he subtly builds a picture that exposes the cracks in society . . . he is a master of satire but pokes fun subtly, without ever being cruel, biting or blatant . . . his light, funny writing makes you feel better * Evening Standard * His affectionately witty attitude to our human foibles is always uplifting . . . Superb * The Times * A pertinent, entertaining study of a nation in crisis -- 'Books of the Year' * Financial Times * Expansive and often very funny . . . Coe - a writer of uncommon decency - reminds us that the way out of this mess is through moderation, through compromise, through that age-old English ability to laugh at ourselves * Observer * Brilliantly funny . . . a compelling state of the nation novel, full of light and shade, which vividly charts modern Britain's tragicomic slide * Economist *