Exhuming his coterie of recurring characters, Jonathan Coe unleashes a wry, mercilessly funny novel of modern Britain and the madness of Brexit. Whilst his pen is frequently savagely satirical, Coe is a keen observer of human foibles and there is an empathy and affection for his protagonists here that offsets the darker political content.
Winner of the Costa Novel Award 2019
Set in the Midlands and London over the last eight years, Jonathan Coe follows a brilliantly vivid cast of characters through a time of immense change and disruption in Britain.
There are the early married years of Sophie and Ian who disagree about the future of Britain and, possibly, the future of their relationship; Sophie's grandfather whose final act is to send a postal vote for the European referendum; Doug, the political commentator, whose young daughter despairs of his lack of political nous and Doug's Remaining Tory politician partner who is savaged by the crazed trolls of Twitter.
And within all these lives is the story of England itself: a story of nostalgia and irony; of friendship and rage, humour and intense bewilderment.
As acutely alert to the absurdity of the political classes as he is compassionate about those who have been left behind, this is a novel Jonathan Coe was born to write.
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241983683
Number of pages: 432
Weight: 300 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 26 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'An arresting fictionalised howl of aggrieved Remainder-dom.' - The Financial Times
'Probably the best English novelist of his generation.' - Nick Hornby
'No modern novelist is better at charting the precariousness of middle-class life.' - The Observer
'From post-industrial Birmingham to the London riots and the current political gridlock, [Middle England] takes in family, literature and love in a comedy for our times' - The Guardian
'Coe shows an understanding of this country that goes beyond what most cabinet ministers can muster ... his light, funny writing makes you feel better' - The Evening Standard
'Middle England is a full-blooded state of the nation novel, and it brings us bang up-to-date' - The Sunday Times
'Coe 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' - The Mail on Sunday
'Sublimely good. Funny, tender, human and intelligent ... the state of the (Brexit) nation novel to end them all. Jonathan Coe's best since What a Carve Up!' - India Knight
'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
'The first great Brexit novel' - Sathnam Sanghera
'Let me add to the chorus of praise forJonathan 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
'Brilliant. Read it too fast, finished it too soon' - Nigella Lawson
'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
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