In “Bournville” Jonathan Coe skilfully traces fault lines that divide Britain while depicting family rifts
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskMr Coe’s latest novel is another family chronicle. Each book in his “Rotters” trilogy charted his characters’ progress over several years, but “Bournville” is a far more ambitious affair. The novel spans 75 years and follows four generations of the Lamb family; it is a rich account of important occasions, upheavals and transformations in both modern Britain and individual lives.
One of those lives dominates. Mary lives in Bournville, a model village built in Birmingham by the Cadbury family for employees of their chocolate factory. At the outset of the book, she is a young girl who witnesses a violent assault on a German man at aDay celebration. At the end, she is an 86-year-old woman living alone during the coronavirus lockdowns.
Between these points in time, Mary becomes a wife and a widow, a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Mr Coe interweaves the stories of her relatives, too. During the World Cup final in 1966, Mary’s intolerant son Jack is taught a valuable lesson by a German relative. In 1981 Mary’s husband, Geoffrey, allows his own prejudice to rear its ugly head when he sets up his son, Martin, on a date with his secretary in an attempt to end his relationship with a black woman.
Parts of “Bournville” feel episodic, and the cast is so large that not every character can make an impression. However, these flaws are outweighed by the book’s many delights, particularly its involving storylines, comic set pieces and astute analysis.
This is a novel about people and place. Entertaining and often poignant, it presents a captivating portrait of how Britons lived then and the way they live now.This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline"A family affair"
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