Born in 1961 in what is now the West Midlands, since his debut The Accidental Woman in 1987 Jonathan Coe has carved out a niche as one of Britain’s finest exponents of satiric cultural observation.

Coe's particular gift is to understand how nostalgia, regret and an apprehension of what the future will bring might make us more, not less, empathetic to the frailties of those around us * FT, Best Audiobooks of the Year * Very tempting * The Times * In this affecting generational saga, framed by the pandemic and structured by seven milestone broadcasts, Jonathan Coe - known for his state-of-the-nation novels - once again takes the temperature of Britain * FT, Best Books of 2022 * At heart Bournville is a novel designed to make you think by making you laugh, and the seriousness of the subject matter is tempered throughout by the author's piercing eye for the more ludicrous elements of human nature * New Statesman * A compelling social history that's sprinkled throughout with Coe's inimitable humour, love and white-hot anger * Evening Standard * A hugely impressive state-of-the-nation tale * Observer * British novelists love to diagnose the state of the nation. Now the author was not to know that since his epilogue was written a mere 5 months ago in April 2022 that a) the Queen would have passed away and, b) Boris Johnson would no longer be in power and the UK would be in an even worse state of affairs.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. For anyone who has felt lost in the past six years, it is like meeting an ally -- Rachel Joyce, author of Miss Benson's Beetle Full of vibrant characters and fabulous dialogue, which switches from laugh-out-loud funny to extremely poignant * Independent * The changing face of postwar Britain is brilliantly captured * FT * As the latest in J Coe's Unrest sequence, Bournville is one of the most warm-hearted, brilliant and beguiling of his State of the Nation novels. This was a satisfying read and my only negative observation is that the generational shift and the alternating time shift within sections made it difficult to reconcile how each character was related by birth to one another. That aside, "Bourneville" is Coe at his best: gentle and clever while reflecting changing attitudes and mores, yet heart-warming and thoughtful without being sentimental, and all the while an easy read that will make you think, smile, and cry, and sometimes all at once. The finale, set during COVID lockdowns, was particularly touching and another opportunity to reflect on what we know now versus what we knew then.

This book is set in Bournville in Birmingham where the famous Cadbury's factory produced some of the nation's favourite chocolate bars.Bournville, like Middle England, is a state-of-the-nation novel that seeks to respond to a question asked by a German musician early in the book: “This new path you’ve taken in the last few years – why exactly did you choose it? 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.