Bournville: From the bestselling author of Middle England

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The news in the UK is totally saturated by these topics right now - understandably - so perhaps for me personally this was not a good moment to read a novel that featured these two themes so prominently when I am reading a novel to relax and escape from constant discussion and rumination on such topics. To illustrate this latter, take the schematic three brothers here - one is left, one right and one SDP; one turns out to be gay (spoiler but I don't care) later in life, and another marries a black woman; one Brexit, one Remain - you get the picture. Should the next novel be in the offing, Coe already has a ready made opening setting with the death and state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. This book is set in Bournville in Birmingham where the famous Cadbury's factory produced some of the nation's favourite chocolate bars. The sections deal with her/their thoughts and feelings on each occasion, the relationships within the family and how those develop as they grow up, change, have families of their own (or not), and their reminiscences about the past and their lives.

He is the recipient of many prizes and awards, including both Costa Novel of the Year and Prix du Livre Européen. At a meeting between the German and English branches of the family, an argument develops about whether British or German chocolate is better. Just as he did in his Middle England trilogy, Coe here has given so much space to describing events of the period in question that it often reads as much like a short history of modern Britain as a novel.I've only read one other Coe novel - Middle England - and from that limited experience it seems that Coe has a tried-and-tested formula: state of the nation novels focusing on a specific (or a number of specific) events in recent(ish) history, and a tight cast of characters who spend a fair chunk of the narrative ruminating on politics and current affairs in said moment in history. For eleven-year-old Mary, it is the center of her world, the place where most of her family’s friends and neighbors have worked for decades and where the streets smell faintly of chocolate. The story opens during the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic as things as shutting down and uncertainty grows. Then an 11-year-old growing up in the literal shadow of the Cadbury's factory, and the metaphorical shadow of WW2, we follow Mary as she grows up, finds love and work and has a relatively normal British life. Perhaps the weakest point of the novel is that at times it can feel a little predictable – as in fact can be seen in the choice of epochal events which rather inevitably leads to fairly predictable discussions around UK/EU and German relations (which anyway are even more strongly emphasised by having a German branch to the family), and about the changing attitudes to the monarchy.

Thanks to Europa Editions and Netgalley for an advance copy, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Seventy-five years of postwar British history deftly interrogated through the fortunes of one Birmingham family in this wonderfully witty and insightful novel from the author of The Rotters' Club and Middle England. This book has an interesting and ‘novel’ structure, excuse the pun: it is the story of one woman’s life, and that of her family, told in the context of seven memorable occasions in their lives and the life of the nation – the UK that is. It could be about any one of us and our family history and that's what makes it such a strong and engaging read. The last part of the novel, featuring the death of the family matriarch during lockdown, isolated from those who love her, is the most personal (for the author) and pointed – although I was slightly unsure where the anger is directed as while the author’s note finished with a reference to following the rules “unlike the occupiers of number 10 Downing Street” the 2020 sections seems to feature numerous examples of rule breaching including by characters to who we are sympathetic. The book was bought as no, however it looked like it had got damp and had paper stuck to the back cover and my husband had to pe it off as it was for a gift.

Coe] has a huge talent for balancing humour with poignancy ― Book of the month, Good Housekeeping --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. It’s difficult (but not impossible) to draw a line between the complex energy of Coe’s early work and these gentler, more sedate later novels. Like a murmurous river, like the incoming wash of the tide, a distant counterpoint to the swish, swish, swish of her broom on the step, a disembodied voice whispering in her ear, over and over, the mantra: Everything changes, and everything stays the same. I've only read one other Coe novel - Middle England - and from that limited experience it seems that Coe has a tried-and-tested formula: state of the nation novels focusing on a specific (or a number of specific) events in recent(ish) history, and a tight cast of char I was born and grew up by the Lickey Hills and my father worked at Bournville until I was thirteen and for Cadbury’s all his working life.The reason their streets smell faintly of chocolate, the place where most of their friends and neighbours.

Parts of the chocolate factory will be transformed into a theme park, as modern life and the city crowd in on their peaceful enclave. As the country struggles to understand the war it has just endured, six more national celebrations follow: coronations and football matches, fairy-tale weddings and royal funerals. Once again, I’m happy to express my profound gratitude to Europa Editions for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review. The characters are believable and well drawn, the premise is tantalising and skillfully constructed.This was a bit slow for me, jumping from time line to time line- a multi generational tale explored through seven events from VE Day through to Covid. Working for Waterstones meant that I was lucky enough to receive a proof copy of this book well before the publication date. For anyone who has felt lost in the past six years, it is like meeting an ally -- Rachel Joyce, author of Miss Benson's Beetle Full of vibrant characters and fabulous dialogue, which switches from laugh-out-loud funny to extremely poignant * Independent * The changing face of postwar Britain is brilliantly captured * FT * As the latest in J Coe's Unrest sequence, Bournville is one of the most warm-hearted, brilliant and beguiling of his State of the Nation novels.