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Bournville

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Bournville

By: Jonathan Coe
Narrated by: Peter Caulfield, Cara Horgan
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the bestselling, award-winning author of Middle England comes a profoundly moving, brutally funny and brilliantly true portrait of Britain told through four generations of one family.

In Bournville, a placid suburb of Birmingham, sits a famous chocolate factory. For eleven-year-old Mary and her family in 1945, it's the centre of the world. The reason their streets smell faintly of chocolate, the place where most of their friends and neighbours have worked for decades. Mary will go on to live through the Coronation and the World Cup final, royal weddings and royal funerals, Brexit and Covid-19. She'll have children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Parts of the chocolate factory will be transformed into a theme park, as modern life and the city crowd in on their peaceful enclave.

As we travel through seventy-five years of social change, from James Bond to Princess Diana, and from wartime nostalgia to the World Wide Web, one pressing question starts to emerge: will these changing times bring Mary's family - and their country - closer together, or leave them more adrift and divided than ever before?

Bournville is a rich and poignant novel from the bestselling, Costa award-winning author of Middle England. It is the story of a woman, of a nation's love affair with chocolate, of Britain itself.

©2022 Jonathan Coe (P)2022 Penguin Audio
20th Century Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literature & Fiction Political Royalty Satire Fiction Comedy Funny Heartfelt Inspiring Tear-jerking Witty Thought-Provoking

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Critic reviews

"A wickedly funny, clever, but also tender and lyrical novel about Britain and Britishness and what we have become." (Rachel Joyce)

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So pleased I was recommended this book by friend - it was wonderful in all ways

Excellent book

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I loved the gentle cadences of this story that takes us on a journey with a family from VE Day to the Covid lockdown. It’s clever. It’s beautifully written and it weaves its way through the significant moments of 75years of British history.

Some might find looking in the mirror of English attitudes and social norms uncomfortable. For me, having lived through a good number of the key moments, it was a wonderful way to reflect on those times with the benefit of perspective.

Beautiful narrative of post-war Britain

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Brilliantly written. Very thoughtful. Funny. You continue to think about the book after finishing it.

Absolutely loved this book

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Halfway through and I‘m only going to finish this to listen to something while on long walks. The idea of hanging a family saga to key events in British society is really interesting but the family are just dull. I was also expecting Bournville itself to play a bigger role. I was so looking forward to this, having been recommended in a podcast and reading the glowing reviews but it’s just boring. On the plus side I didn’t mind the narration as much as other reviewers. Sorry!

Good premise but rather dull.

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Massive fan of mr Coe …beautiful writing
I’ve read the book and not disappointed with the audio book xxx

Wonderful

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A good novel, which uses significant events in British history, from World War 2 to the first Covid lockdown, told through their impact on generations of one family. I like the way Coe sees the tiny, often poignant details of how these events impact ordinary lives.

The narrator was okay, but frequently mispronounced words, or got the stress wrong in sentences, which made it harder to get absorbed in the novel. But I’d still recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Coe’s previous novels.

Enjoyable novel but very average narration

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Great story wonderful narration really fabulous listen. Highly recommend.

Will definitely listen to more of this series

Fantastic

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Another readable and clever exploration of life in the Uk during the 20th & 21st centuries- extremely enjoyable

Moving and engaging novel

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There were some brilliant parts to this book. It tells a family story that has as its background the recent history of the United Kingdom. Coe chooses important national events such as the Coronation of the late Queen Elizabeth, The World Cup 1966, the wedding of Charles and Diana, the funeral of Princess Diana and finishes with the recent pandemic with reflections on Brexit.
The problem is that it sometimes falls between two stools in being a really interesting family story to social and political commentary that bends over backwards to fit the family story in!
I enjoyed it as a really good family tale through our changing and sometimes (often) turbulent times.
I have to say though that the final section on the pandemic was almost too painful to listen to. It was brilliantly written indeed outstanding so worth the cost for that alone!

Everything changes and everything stays the same

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I really don’t understand the criticism of this book’s narration, I thought it was spot on, as was everything else. Coe writes both male and female characters that are totally recognisable and believable. Although I don’t know the Midlands well, Coe’s sense of place is such that I feel as if I do.

Another great read/listen from Coe

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