I haven’t read any Jonathan Coe before, but I have a few of his books on my shelves because they’ve caught my attention. So when this book turned up in my round for the BookTube Prize I was excited to have a reason to pick it up.
Technically this book is third in a series (starting with The Rotter’s Club), but I found it fine to read as a stand-alone. I imagine reading the others in the series would provide a better insight into the histories and perspectives of the characters (there are some major events that are glancingly referred to in this book but not expanded upon, despite being very interesting, so I imagine they were covered in previous books), but even without them I didn’t have any trouble feeling my way into this one.
In fact, it’s one of those books I was completely sucked into within a chapter. It starts with a funeral, and that funeral gives you a chance to meet several characters and watch how they interact with one another. Which is rich ground for character development.
Pretty much every character in this book is flawed. There’s the main character who has been disappointed in love and has found a way to retreat from the world, his sister who deals with past trauma by also distancing herself from her family, the father whose political views incense his family, a kind friend who lacks ambition and is horribly taken advantage of, and on from there. This book is about nothing more than everyday people and their lives. In intense detail. And yet, through the intricacies of several characters’ lives, we see a cross-section of British society and politics. We deal with Brexit, the Olympics, the political system, class, race, social unrest, terrorism, PTSD, ex-patriotism, marriage and aging. I quite enjoyed the parallel media I consumed – notably watching the entire Olympic Opening Ceremony on YouTube! (There are a bunch of details in it I wouldn’t have understood without Coe’s play-by-play descriptions, so it was invaluable!)
I didn’t expect so much from this book and I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a simple book on the surface, and yet I’ve rarely found one with so many layers. I’m no expert, but it felt to me like a brilliant portrayal of several aspects of British life. Coe also does a great job of capturing the infuriating aspects to several characters which made me thoroughly dislike them – I always know an author is talented when they can pull that off. It’s much harder than writing likable characters!
I’d definitely recommend this one to anyone who enjoys richly textured characters, social commentary and a lot of overlapping and interlacing themes in their fiction. Maybe not so much to those who need their stories to be tied up neatly in a little bow at the end. The characters start as, and remain, a bit of a mess. But that’s kind of what I liked about the book – its humanity and realism. Life isn’t about attaining perfection. It’s about learning to thrive in a bit of a mess, and accepting flaws in those you care about. Because, in the end, isn’t that what we all have to learn to do?
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. – Goodreads
Book Title: Middle England
Author: Jonathan Coe
Series: Yes – Rotters’ Club #3
Edition: Hardback
Published By: Viking
Released: November 8, 2018
Genre: Fiction, Politics, Social Issues, Character-Driven
Pages: 424
Date Read: April 25-May 10, 2020
Rating: 8/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.47/5 (7,443 ratings)
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