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Bournville Paperback – November 3, 2022

by Jonathan Coe (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 2,277 ratings
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In the Birmingham suburb of Bournville, a family celebrate VE Day in 1945. With the joy of such an occasion there also come larger national questions about the nature of the horrific war the country has just been through. Following this family through generations as they navigate seventy-five years of drastic social change, from wartime nostalgia and English exceptionalism to the World Cup and coronavirus, domestic secrets and national myths leave characters and a country adrift, bewildered and divided.
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  1. Print length
    368 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Viking
  4. Publication date
    November 3, 2022
  5. Dimensions
    6.02 x 1.02 x 9.21 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0241517397
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0241517390
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Viking (November 3, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0241517397
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0241517390
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.02 x 1.02 x 9.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 2,277 ratings

About the author

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Jonathan Coe

Jonathan Coe

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Jonathan Coe was born in Birmingham in 1961. His novels include What a Carve Up!, The House of Sleep, The Rotters' Club, The Rain Before It Falls and Number 11.

He has won many literary prizes at home and abroad, and his biography of the writer BS Johnson, Like A Fiery Elephant, won the Samuel Johnson Prize. Feature films have been made of his novels The Dwarves of Death (as Five Seconds To Spare) and The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim (as La vie très privée de Monsieur Sim). The Rotters' Club was adapted for BBC television in 2005, starring Sarah Lancashire, Alice Eve and Kevin Doyle.

In 2017 he published a novella for children, The Broken Mirror.

Hie latest novel, MIDDLE ENGLAND, published by Penguin in November 2018, reintroduces characters from The Rotters' Club and puts them against a background of real events in the UK before and after the Brexit referendum.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
2,277 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

D. Eastwood
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2024
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Very interesting for anyone interested in the history of Cadbury
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B. Goldberg
4.0 out of 5 stars What Happened to Britain?
Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2023
An interesting narrative that attempts to answer a character’s question - posed in 2020 - basically, what happened to Britain? What got Britain to the mess of Brexit and Boris? Using specific real life events - VE Day, World Cups, Diana’s marriage, Diana’s death, Welsh independence struggles, and against the backdrop of one family through 75 years, Coe uses his considerable writerly skill to search for answers. The narrative bogs down in faithful recitations of key political speeches and other jarring stylistic devices, but generally it’s an engaging and illuminating story well told. Thank you to Europa editions and NetGalley for the ARC (although depending where you buy your books it was also published this past fall and readily available now)
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CT
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good condition, faster shipping from UK
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2023
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Very pleased with selller, I do reccomend and thank you.
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Linda A. Ting
5.0 out of 5 stars great, speedy service
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2023
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very entertaining read. Would recommend the trilogy
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Mary Lins
5.0 out of 5 stars A Confection of a Tale!
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2023
Jonathan Coe’s enthralling and entertaining new novel “Bournville”, is as delightful and delicious as a beautiful box of chocolates. I gobbled it right up!

The novel is subtitled “A Novel in Seven Occasions”, which are:
VE Day
The Coronation of QEII
The World Cup Final: England V. West Germany
The Investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales
The Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer
The Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales
The 75th Anniversary of VE Day

As you can see, these are all immense historical milestones in modern British history. Through the eyes of the families in the small village of Bournville, particularly young Mary who is a child on VE Day, we experience these momentous days.

Stirred in, like milk into chocolate, is the story of Mary and Geoffrey, who met for the first time on VE Day. Each of the seven occasions advance and deepen their story, as well as providing rich character studies and no shortage of the “Brit Wit” I love so much.

Each occasion is also an opportunity for Coe to reflect on the political, social, and economic changes in the UK after the war.

Regarding my chocolate metaphors, we learn that Bournville, was settled by the Cadbury family to support their chocolate factory in 1879. The family were Quakers, and no alcohol was allowed in Bournville; hot chocolate would have to do!

There is a whole section in the novel about the European “Chocolate Wars” that I found fascinating. I remember my first Cadbury Egg in the late 1980s when it finally came to the United States. Oh! My! Heavens! It was sooo much better than the Hersey’s I grew up on! I don’t think I’ve had a Hersey product since.

There is also a wonderful section about the COVID lock-down in England; it was quite interesting the read of both the similarities and differences there were between the U.K. and the U.S. response and “rules”.

So settle into your favorite cozy armchair, brew a pot of English tea, crack open a Cadbury Egg, and enjoy this treat of a novel!
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Olympus John
2.0 out of 5 stars The chocolate is better than the book
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2023
My first Jonathan Coe. As a native of Kings Heath until my late teens, (1962) I was attracted by the title.

Despite some Brummy nostalgia, I was disappointed by the book. Why start in 2020 and then leap back to 1945 without explanation?

This is an Aga saga without the Aga, following a burgeoning family through matriarch Mary from age 9 to her death at 86. The author chooses to use the great public events of the day as his timeframe skeleton, but that produces some great leaps, and gaps. None of the characters came alive for me, even that of Mary Lamb. As marriages, grandchildren and great grandchildren appeared, new characters appeared quite abruptly.

A few sermons on the attitudes and politics of the day, and just too much on the Covid lockdown.

Interestingly, the only sexual detail is homosexual which is explicit beyond necessity.

To me, Bridget is the most interesting character. We learn that she is black, but little else about her. Almost nothing on her career as an MEP, whereas we get altogether too much about the chocolate wars.

The book might be of passing interest to other Brummies, but I really can’t recommend it.
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Pamela Audeen Poddany
5.0 out of 5 stars EVERYTHING CHANGES AND EVERYTHING STAYS THE SAME
Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2023
BOURNVILLE

We meet eleven year old Mary in the 1950's growing up in a small English village where Cadbury chocolates are manufactured. We travel through four generations of Mary's family and all of the people in her life. We see world events from this family's perspective.

There's plenty of great history in this book -- the story of Cadbury chocolates, WWII, the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth, sports, the lives of the Royal family -- scandals, wedding, funerals -- their impact on the world, and the COVID pandemic....just to name a few. There was never a dull moment reading about history both past and present...and plenty that I have experienced myself.

The characters are wonderful, down-to-earth, real people. We know Mary's mom and dad, grandparents, her friends, crushes, her future husband, their children, and grandchildren. Not only does the book focus on Mary, but also the lives of those near and dear to her. We follow her extended family as they live their lives and react to the world at large over a 75 year span.

Coe is an excellent author. This is the first book of his I have enjoyed but it certainly won't be the last.
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John A.
2.0 out of 5 stars Not His Best
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2023
I have read all Coe's fiction and enjoyed them all. This is the worst by a good margin. It's a sort of watered down Ken Follet style recounting the years from the waning days of WWII to the Covid era through the eyes of two families. The book really went nowhere, sub-chapter dates were placed out of sequence and the idea of keying the family evolution to key UK events was, well, ugh, so they all sat down and watched it on TV. He even described Geoff Hurst's last goal in the 1966 World Cup final incorrectly. Made it through 2/3 and gave up. Give yourself more time to come up with something with a bit of a spark next time Jonathon.
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Janie U
5.0 out of 5 stars Rewarding reading experience
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 24, 2024
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I'd read a couple of books by this author and enjoyed his observational style so bought this one when it came out in paperback. I love the idea of looking at 70 years of history with one location at it's centre.
The book was first published in 2022 and the shadow of Covid haunts the later section of the book. Many novels seem to be considering the pandemic at the moment. As a reader it can be quite upsetting and I found that the first few novels I read were very unsettling - as I've read more though, the differing perspectives are starting to have more of a cathartic effect.
There are 351 pages, split into 7 parts each set at a time of a national event - the parts are then divided into chapters with each part being structured in a different way.
From the start this writing is beautiful and that is kept up all the way through - it has a rhythm that makes this a rewarding reading experience. There are some wonderful phrases that made me pause and read them again - e.g.. "Everything changes and everything stays the same" perfectly summarising a state of the nation novel.
He uses evocative descriptions - "satisfyingly high pile of biscuits" and "making remorseless progress through the biscuits" are just two examples.
The premise shows the progress of a nation around events that brought people together. We see the crowds and the excitement but also see the alternative view of discontentment and anarchy. Jonathan Coe never lets us forget the undercurrent of unease as a balance to the wave of sometimes irrational patriotism that threatens to overwhelm normal emotions.
Most of the parts are written in the third person so when the first person it used that section becomes very personal and the major event scales down to something happening to just one person.
The time gaps between the parts are fascinating - life has moved on, new people are around, some have died and irritations have become problems. The first few paragraphs of each part allowed the reader to catch up with the characters and, by extension, look at the changes in the outside world as they effect the individuals.
In each period there are many references to contemporary innovations and it is deeply nostalgic to think about the early TV sets and the first home computers among lots of other examples.
I can imagine that the book was written in lockdown as the section covering this period is very realistic and brings back many of the emotions experienced during this time.
Being based around a family this feels to be a small book but it's surroundings are vast and we can see how much many families are continually influenced by the outside world.
I was unsure how the book would end and it turned out to be perfect. The last few chapters actually took my breathe away and made me think hard about the impact we make on the world. This book will stay in my head for a long time
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AJH
4.0 out of 5 stars A good read
Reviewed in Spain on October 22, 2023
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Thoroughly enjoyable and full of (for me) recent social hitory. Personally, I found the Covid references a bit too recent but only from the perspective that it is something I would sooner forget for the time being and move on
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anna marme
4.0 out of 5 stars Livre à lire sur la période 1950-2000 en Angleterr
Reviewed in France on September 8, 2023
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Lecture personnelle
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federica
5.0 out of 5 stars Storia della Gran Bretagna dagli anni 40 ad oggi, come sempre Coe non delude!!!!
Reviewed in Italy on June 11, 2023
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Poetico e realistico, sempre ottima la lettura dei romanzi di Coe che arriva in questo a narrare i mesi del covid19 partendo pero' dalla fine della guerra e passando per i momenti salienti della storia britannica. Molto bello!
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speedy gonzales
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 14, 2023
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This is a good outline of a story that also encapsulates true facts. Some surprises in the storyline.
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