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Jonathan Coe

Biography

Jonathan Coe

Jonathan Coe was born in 1961 in Lickey, a suburb of southwest Birmingham. His first novel, THE ACCIDENTAL WOMAN, was published in 1987. His bestselling novels include WHAT A CARVE UP! and THE ROTTERS' CLUB (2001). He is the recipient of many prizes and awards, including both Costa Novel of the Year and Prix du Livre Européen. He won France’s Prix Médicis for THE HOUSE OF SLEEP and Italy’s Premio Flaiano and Premio Bauer-Ca’ Foscari.

Jonathan Coe

Books by Jonathan Coe

by Jonathan Coe - Fiction

Bournville is a quiet village in the heart of England famous for its chocolate. For 11-year-old Mary, it is the center of her world. During the next three-quarters of a century, Mary will have children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She will live through the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the 1966 World Cup final (the last time England won), royal weddings and royal funerals, Brexit and COVID-19. Parts of the chocolate factory will be transformed into a theme park, and Bournville itself will gradually disappear into the sprawl of the growing city of Birmingham. As we travel through 75 years of social change, one pressing question starts to emerge: Will these changing times bring Mary's family --- and their country --- closer together, or leave them more adrift and divided than ever before?

by Jonathan Coe - Fiction, Humor

MIDDLE ENGLAND is a piercing and provocative novel about a country in crisis. From the frenzy of the 2012 Olympics to the aftermath of the Brexit referendum, here Jonathan Coe chronicles the story of modern Britain by way of a cast of characters whose world is being upended. There are newlyweds who disagree about the country’s future and, possibly, their relationship; a political commentator who writes impassioned columns about austerity from his lavish town house while his radical teenage daughter undertakes a relentless quest for universal justice; and Benjamin Trotter, who embarks on an apparently doomed new career in middle age, and his father, whose last wish is to vote to leave the European Union.

by Jonathan Coe - Fiction

Beginning in the early years of this century, NUMBER 11 follows two friends, Alison and Rachel, as they come of age. As the narrative progresses from the aftermath of the Iraq War to the present day, its scope broadens to include others who are variously connected to these two girls: Alison’s mother, a has-been singer, competes on a grisly reality TV show; Rachel’s university mentor finally confronts her late husband’s obsessive search for a German film he saw as a child; a young police constable investigates the seemingly unrelated deaths of two stand-up comedians; and a giant spider lurks in the darkness beneath one of London’s most staggeringly expensive neighborhoods.

by Jonathan Coe - Espionage, Fiction, Humor

Handsome, unassuming Thomas Foley is an employee at the Central Office of Information whose particular background makes him just the man to oversee the “authentic British pub” that will be erected at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. It’s the first major expo after World War II, meant to signify unity, but there’s inevitable intrigue involving the U.S. and Soviet delegations. In the shadow of an immense, imposingly modern structure called the Atomium, the married Foley becomes both agent and pawn --- when he’s not falling head over heels for Anneke, his Belgian hostess.

by Jonathan Coe - Fiction

Maxwell Sim can’t seem to make a single meaningful connection. In an attempt to get out of his rut, Max accepts a strange offer to drive a Prius full of toothbrushes from London to the remote Shetland Islands. But he’s unable to resist making a series of impromptu visits to important figures from his past.