By Jonathan Coe
Paperback - £8.99
This 2001 classic by Jonathan Coe is largely an account of growing up in 1970s Birmingham in the context of IRA terrorism, industrial strikes and a drastically changing music scene.
Benjamin and Lois Trotter (known by their peers as ‘The Rotters’) are amongst the main characters; Ben trying to find his place in the world of writing and composing music, Lois embarking on a relationship with a man she met through an advert in the back of Sounds magazine. Ben’s friends are active alongside him in the school magazine, The Bill Board and Coe’s inclusion of its articles punctuate the narrative of the novel with humour.
Alongside the adolescent dramas around sex, school and the abortive attempt at a band, Coe also describes the world of the adults, the politics and the adultery.
Coe writes an intriguing story, interweaving heartbreak and humour, but also includes the wider political and social themes of the time in which he writes. It is a story that leaves you wanting more, and conveniently, this can be obtained in Coe’s 2004 novel, The Closed Circle, and his most recent work, Middle England.