Mr Coe’s characters observe social change, technological developments, cultural shifts and political turmoil. Some find themselves embroiled in Britain’s “Chocolate War” with the European Union, others have their plans derailed by covid-19 restrictions. Mr Coe skilfully traces fault lines that divide the country while depicting family rifts, and he offsets TV commentaries of royal events—weddings, funerals and the queen’s “ponderous, arcane” coronation—with his characters’ thoughts and opinions. Bournville is Jonathan Coe's most ambitious novel yet . . . a novel about people and place. Entertaining and often poignant, it presents a captivating portrait of how Britons lived then and the way they live now Economist Oxfam books blog: Jonathan Coe and William Sutcliffe create window displays for the Oxfam Bloomsbury Bookshop". Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. This is fine, except Coe clearly hates the monarchy - or at least thinks it's utter nonsense - so all he does is have his characters snark and gripe about it in response...except the insensitive, racist Tory piglets who just love the royals. Oink, oink. Aren't they repulsive! 🙄

When one of Mary’s son’s starts dating a non-white girlfriend, his grandmother Doll is disquieted. “‘Do you treat her the same?’ Doll wanted to know. ‘I mean … do you treat her the same as you would any other girl?’” This striking line is an unsettling and plausible combination of compassion and racism. Covid και του Brexit, περνώντας από την ενθρόνιση της Ελισσάβετ, το Μουντιάλ της Αγγλίας του 1966, το χρίσμα του Καρόλου ως πρίγκιπα της Ουαλίας (κάποιοι διαμαρτυρήθηκαν ότι ο πρίγκιπας της Ουαλίας θα έπρεπε να είναι Ουαλός), ο γάμος Καρόλου-Νταίάνας, το θάνατο της πριγκίπισσας Νταιϊάνα και "τη μάχη της σοκολάτας" στο ευρωκοινοβούλιο και με αρκετό τρυφερό σαρκασμό για τον Μπόρις Τζόνσον. Bournville is also a bit conveniently out of the way and behind at least the most cosmopolitan times: in 1966: "One hundred miles away London, apparently, is swinging. Bournville ? Not so much"; Coe does London well, too, but he's particularly good at capturing that -- as the title of a previous novel had it -- 'Middle England' (as well as, here, also out of the way Wales).) Brexit (για το οποίο είναι σαφές ότι οι Βρετανοί δεν έχουν ακόμα συλλογικά κατασταλαγμένη άποψη), ενώ ένας άλλος, πολύ χαριτωμένα ερωτώμενος αν έχει κάνει ποτέ του κάτι τολμηρό αναφέρει την ένταξή του στο SDP (μετριοπαθέστερο των εργατικών της εποχής κόμμα). Βέβαια, η επιλογή των χρονικών στιγμών που "τραβάει φωτογραφίες" ο Coe, δίνει μάλλον προβλέψιμες συζητήσεις (και τους εξίσου δεδομένα προβλέψιμους προβληματισμούς που τις δημιουργούν), αλλά ίσως είναι και «δίχτυ ασφαλείας» στη γραφή του. Ωστόσο, μια από τις στιγμές που αποκαλύπτεται a posteriori με τους Ουαλλούς εθνικιστές-ακτιβιστές-επαναστάτες και την αποτρεπτική δράση ενός μέλους της οικογένειας, ξεφεύγει από το μοτίβο της προβλεψιμότητας. With it's overlap with these novels, as well as others by Coe, Bournville is another piece of the large tapestry presenting modern Britain that Coe's work can be seen as, and certainly a solid and entertaining one.British novelists love to diagnose the state of the nation. Few do it better than Jonathan Coe, who writes with warmth and subversive glee about social change and the comforting mundanities it imperils Spectator E’ curioso che quasi in contemporanea, ma con ben altro piglio e personaggi meno pallidi e più sfaccettati, anche Ian McEwan abbia pubblicato un romanzo fiume biografico che a sua volta interpreta in filigrana la recente storia d’Inghilterra, benché in quel caso il racconto sia meno corale e molto più incentrato sul protagonista e sulle figure femminili che ne condizionano l’esistenza. Coe has the great gift of combining engaging human stories with a deeper structural pattern that gives the book its heft * Guardian *

In a 2001 newspaper interview, Coe described himself as an atheist. [16] Honours and awards [ edit ]

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short review for busy readers: Definitely not one of Coe's best. Good concept and well-written, but muddled and tedious in plot, overly biased/blatant in approach, and lazy in the characterisation of too many characters who are only shades different from each other, with very few exceptions. Slow read. Not recommended, esp not as a place to start with Coe's work.

Parts of “Bournville” feel episodic, and the cast is so large that not every character can make an impression. However, these flaws are outweighed by the book’s many delights, particularly its involving storylines, comic set pieces and astute analysis. “What kind of a country,” wonders Peter during a time of national unrest and “royalist pomp and circumstance”, “could allow these two worlds to exist side by side?” Flood, Alison (6 January 2020). "Jonathan Coe wins Costa prize for 'perfect' Brexit novel". The Guardian.Another son, Peter, takes ages before he can fully accept, and act on the fact, that he is homosexual. John Llewellyn Rhys Prize; Samuel Johnson Prize; Prix Médicis; Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize; Costa Book Award From the bestselling, award-winning author of Middle England comes a profoundly moving, brutally funny and brilliantly true portrait of Britain told through four generations of one family Preston, Alex (25 November 2018). "Middle England by Jonathan Coe review – Brexit comedy". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved 28 December 2018. Bournville is an enjoyable family saga, centred on the memorable Mary - inspired by Jonathan Coe's own mother - whom we first meet in her little village on VE Day.