Middle England

By Jonathan Coe

                                                                                                                                

                        This is a STATE-OF-THE-NATION NOVEL, a form that has its roots in Victorian times : when  the writer attempts to chart the changes to the country at a time of crisis.

In this book, in a humorous  and very human way, Jonathan Coe grapples with the effects of politics, here BREXIT and the way people voted , inside the community and families.

Jonathan Coe shows how the seeds of Brexit were sown in those years when the self-congratulatory of a few fuelled the resentment of many. In a multilayered portrait of « Middle England » and the middle class , he shows the gulf between the different education systems and how the age of the characters and the generational reflexes have created tensions and divisions  among families, couples, friends.

What keeps coming out is also the nostalgia for the past « grandeur » of the Empire and the ingrained feeling of «  insularity ». This explains that…

Jonathan Coe is very good at describing what « Britishness » means.

                       This is an automnal novel, about the passing of time,  what has vanished, the time lost to obscure hatreds, misplaced love and the brink of old age.

                        All this is set against the symbolism of the river Severn, following, undisturbed its timeless course «  bubbling….. merrily, merrily… »

We all found the book utterly enjoyable, and very informative .

                                                                                                       Anne Van Calster