I was really looking forward to reading Middle England. To make sure that I appreciated the book to its fullest, I re-read The Rotters’ Club and The Closed Circle beforehand to reacquaint myself with the characters. I am sure that the book could be read as a stand-alone, but would recommend reading the first two in the sequence beforehand. Middle England was a fantastic read on all sorts of levels. A potted history of the years 2010 up until September 2018, with Brexit very much a main character, with the interwoven lives of many of the characters from the first two novels. Very much written from the viewpoint of remain (another reason I identified with the book!), but with some indicators of why people would feel justified in voting leave. A wonderful book, with lots of snippets of topical detail. I wonder whether it will still be read (with the other two books) in 100 years time? It would certainly require the addition of many of explanatory footnotes, but would be a perfect example of how the country was in the second decade of 2018.

Thanks to Net Galley for allowing me to a read a pre-publication copy of this novel.

This novel is mainly set in the western midlands and timescale is events leading up to the brexit vote and afterwards through different relationships. The author uses characters from both sides remain/leave and left/right. You can feel as though you are part of this even though its still fresh in the mind.

After enjoying Number 11 expectations were high for this one, the third of the Rotters Club series. It covers the years just before the Coalition government up to 2018. I enjoyed the political overview, plus the aftermath of the referendum and Brexit. However, despite being mainly set in middle England, Birmingham in this case, it felt like a Richard Curtis film script. Maybe a little to stereotyped characters, although one of the older characters is uncannily like my mother!

It's a decent read, just not classic Coe.

This is the first book by Jonathan Coe that I’ve read. I understand that the characters from this book also appeared in The Rotters Club and although you don’t need to have read that first, I think it would have made this book more enjoyable as the characters here could have been better developed.
I thought the book was well written and cleverly traced back the events leading to ‘Brexit’ and read the contrasting feelings in the country very well. I enjoyed it, though it didn’t help that the news is full of this stuff every day and I’ve reached saturation point. I’d probably have liked it more 6 months ago or 6 months from now.

A delightful snapshot of an interesting period of our recent history, pre and post the Brexit vote.
The London Olympics opening ceremony was particularly well written, it was like living through it again!
The Longbridge chapter was so very moving; my heart was saddened at Colin and Benjamin’s visit there, at Colin’s confusion, and the changes there he found hard to understand.
A thought provoking novel, reminding us of what very short and selective memories we have!

A great tale of (mainly) generational differences, leading up to and including the Brexit referendum and motives for voting. Very insightful

I really enjoyed this; there's something about Jonathan Coe's writing that sweeps you right into the story, and the lives of all the characters. He also manages to capture the atmosphere of the time, particularly the run-up to the referendum and the fall-out immediately afterwards - how the vote (and which side of it you were on) affected families and friendships and how this was often related not so much to the vote itself but how the way you voted was interpreted as somehow expressing a view on a whole range of different issues. An excellent novel - very readable and it has something to say about very particular moments of British history.

I am a massive fan of The Rotters Club, and was slightly disappointed by The Closed Circle - but was desperate to read this and finish the story.

Again, I was sadly disappointed. It was a more difficult, more political read and lacked the heart of the original story. Too much brexit, not enough character. Sorry Mr. Coe.

Hugely enjoyable. Coe is so good at not only getting right under the skin of his character, but also of the country. The mix of real and fictional people make it all the more easy to identify with and the humour just makes it go down all the better.

I had trouble getting into this book. I found the storyline quite slow and the characters quite dull. Sorry not for me.

In Middle England, Jonathan Coe returns to characters from previous books with an eight-year stroll through some of England's most turbulent years - London riots, the Olympics, Brexit, various celeb deaths and so on.

I started off on the wrong foot as although I've read some Coe before, I haven't read The Rotters' Club. Nevertheless, I found this an interesting exploration of England's recent past. Interesting - not exciting. I found the characters' journeys gentle and not particularly pacey. But I enjoyed them growing and changing as the years went by.

Unfortunately, I did find myself skim-reading now and then, something I very rarely do. I guess I was just looking for a little more conflict!

A depressing look at our present situation,

As the title suggests, this is an examination in minute detail of ‘Middle England’ from the General Election of 2010 to September 2018. This does not refer to middle-of-the-road English people, but the geographical middle, as it is set in and around Birmingham. The story is told by a group of friends and family, some of whom have appeared in Jonathan Coe’s previous books “The Rotter’s Club” and “Closed Circle”. The families now appear dysfunctional and the friends seem polarised, some representing the emerging far right wing of politics, with the younger people attached to the left of Corbyn. The liberal views seem lost entirely with Brexit responsible for extreme views which divide family and friends.

It is an interesting exercise, to be reminded of all the main events of the last eight years: the formation of the Coalition, the summer riots, the murder of Jo Cox, and then of course the arrival of Brexit which mainly dominates the novel. In all the doom and gloom the one moment of uplift, even happiness, is the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. From then on it is a depressing read.

I recently read all twelve volumes of Anthony Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” and Jonathan Coe has a similar style and approach. It is a story of our times and I wish there had been more humour to lighten the gloom. When the moments of humour do occur, they are a relief, but all too infrequent. The writing is eloquent and detailed but the characters sometimes seem to be lost amongst the long descriptions of place or latest news stories.

Although nothing very new or radical is said, this is an interesting read and well written.

Jane

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Or how the English bounced us out of Europe.

Interesting people, the English. I have an English friend who claims that he has no accent when he speaks - others do, the Irish, Scottish, Welsh, but not the English – their accent is pure.

Jonathan Coe’s novel is the third in a loosely connected trilogy, focusing on a number of working class friends who attended a selective grammar school in Birmingham (The Rotters’ Club) and by the events of this outing have reached their mid to late fifties, cynical, somewhat disillusioned, but still open to surprise at what their compatriots can throw at them.

Middle England – that label for self-satisfied, opinionated, middle class, middle aged Englishmen and women – or the Midlands, the area around Birmingham describing itself as the heart of England?

Coe’s eloquent, episodic volume traces events from the Banking crash of 2007 right up to the post-Brexit vote debate. This a bitter-sweet story, its chief characters often incredulous at quite what their fellow countrymen have inflicted on the nation. It is often very funny – not least in the scenes when a Cameroon press officer attempts to justify Tory policies to a mildly left-wing journalist. Most of all it possesses an impotent melancholy, if not a tangible fear for what is to become of England. What I say is: what about the rest of us? This is not a British problem – it’s an English one.

In 2015 I very much enjoyed Number 11, Coe’s state-of-the-nation novel about wealth, celebrity and suspicion in contemporary England. Middle England uses roughly the same format, of multiple linked characters and story lines, and seems to makes many of the same points, too. However, by embedding his book so completely in 2011–18 history, he limits its fictional possibilities. I often wonder how the history books will look back on recent events (Brexit, Trump), but revisiting them in fiction feels depressing and pointless – I was there, I remember all this stuff, I don’t need reminding of how we got here. The book is far too long and there were no characters I immediately latched onto. I read 22 pages and skimmed up to p. 140. The scene I liked best was when Sophie’s friend chairs a discussion between an English novelist and a French one and the Englishman characterizes his country as moderate, pragmatic, tolerant, and unlikely to give in to extremes. (Famous last words from October 2010.) I also liked the use of the Shirley Collins folk song “Adieu to Old England.”

Really enjoyed this book and there were some laugh out loud moments.
Loved the fact that the political insights were reasonably current, ie in living memory. Political intrigue has always fascinated me and I loved the way it was interwoven into the list ves of the characters
Could see this as a TV series, but names would probably have to be changed to protect the innocent, or not so innocent. Highly recommended

I really enjoyed this journey into the lives and first world problems of what I initially perceived to be a superficial cast of well heeled and comfortable middle-class characters. Not having read any of Mr Coe’s previous novels, I came into the experience with a fresh eye and read the book as a stand-alone story. I

The social commentary about Brexit and it’s impact right across Britis society was spot on and the dialogue and observation was accurate, hilarious and never ever dull.

A very funny, entertaining, but sadly all too true commentary on the times we live in.

Many thanks for letting me read and review this terrific book.

This book didn't grab me as I thought it would , It dragged me slowly through all the events of the last 6 or 7 years with a mediocre storyline which spent more time typecasting the people involved than developing the plot .. Sorry but bitterly disappointed .

I have not read any of Jonathan Coe's previous novels. This book certainly captures the political and social climate of last decade and how it has impacts on the characters. Lots of different characters were brought to life in this book. telling their individual stories. All the ups and downs of human life can be found here. Most importantly for me the author demonstrated how social expectations are shaped by the wider world. Lots of issues raised here from political correctness to the trials and tribulations of brexit. Although I enjoyed the book I felt it was rather long and some of the characters didn't seem to fit the story particularly well.... However, I did think it was a great attempt to highlight the ridiculousness of where society has landed up. Worth reading!

This will not surprise Coe fans as it is a very timely chronicle of what has happened in Britain the recent past. The characters are realistic, and not always likeable but you cant help but be swept along in the story. It felt very current and apposite and will offer insights in years to come for historians and Anglophiles alike, although I did feel it was heavily leaning one way, as you might expect Coe has little time for the brexiteers, and when leaving the country altogether seemed to be the only option at one point it didn't exactly offer much hope for those who don't have that as an option. The foreigners also end up serving the English in one respect which didn't quite sit well with the message of zenophilic liberalism but maybe that was tongue in cheek and I missed the point? But as fiction it was enjoyable, relevant and insightful. I could have stood a little more balance for all the people who had been fed Euro scepticism by media and politicians rather than the tired old lazy cry of racism which whilst it may apply to some definitely isn't the motivation of all.

There are only a few books which I’ve read more than once. Pride and Prejudice is one of them; Brave New World another. And in this rare group you’ll also find Jonathan Coe’s What a Carve Up!
Sadly, his latest book, Middle England, will not be joining my fiction hall of fame. It seems Coe was asked to write a book about Brexit and that’s what he did. He resurrected his characters from The Rotters Club (another great novel) and put them into Britain’s turbulent 21st C political landscape. And yet … those characters who were so engaging in The Rotters Club, seem so dull in Middle England. Because here’s the thing…Brexit is boring. Yes, it’s important. Yes, I have a viewpoint – I’ve even taken to the streets to express it, and yet I find it as dull as dishwater.
In Middle England, Benjamin had written a book, which he asked his friends to critique and one of them advises him to ‘ get rid of some of the political, historical stuff’(well, actually, all of it.) But if you took away Coe’s political stuff, there’d be little left. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy Doug’s chats with the Tory spin doctor, the rivalry between the children’s entertainers and Colin’s selective memories of Midlands manufacturing. But without the Brexit timeline, there was little narrative to keep it going.
I’m sorry for the low ratings, because I really am a Jonathan Coe fan. It’s just on this occasion, he lacked the necessary biro. ( And if anyone doesn’t get that joke, read What a Carve Up!)
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.