Джонатан Коу - Middle England

‘Almost three months.’

He turned back and stared after the car, still lost for words.

‘In fact,’ said Lois. ‘Her due date is the end of March. The twenty-ninth.’

His heart thumping, his spirits soaring as the news gradually permeated his weary, addled consciousness, Benjamin raised his arm at the receding car and began to wave in quick frantic movements. But his niece was not looking back. Her eyes were fixed on the road ahead as she accelerated down the lane, one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting on her swollen belly: home, for now, to Sophie and Ian’s tentative gesture of faith in their equivocal, unknowable future: their beautiful Brexit baby.

Author’s Note

This story features a number of characters from my novel The Rotters’ Club , a book which already has a sequel, called The Closed Circle . For many years I had no intention of continuing the series, but in 2016 two things conspired to change my mind.

Firstly, I went to see Richard Cameron’s fine dramatization of The Rotters’ Club at the Birmingham Rep. Richard’s take on the book, and the brilliant performances of the young cast, made me see that the original novel had a central feature I’d never noticed before, and had certainly never pursued in The Closed Circle : namely, the love between Benjamin Trotter and his sister Lois.

Secondly, the novelist Alice Adams spoke so warmly in an online interview about The Closed Circle that I felt compelled to contact her. I’d never considered the novel a particular success so it was intriguing to me that she should count it among her favourites. We corresponded, then met, and her enthusiasm persuaded me that I should revisit these abandoned characters. At the same time I was discussing with my editor at Penguin, Mary Mount, the possibility of a novel based around the Brexit referendum, and I soon began to feel that I could only approach the subject by resurrecting – and adding to – The Rotters’ Club cast.

All of these people, therefore, played a crucial role in bringing this novel into being. I’d also like to thank Fiona Fylan (for helpful background information on speed-awareness instructors); Ralph Pite, Paul Daintry and Caroline Hennigan (for being encouraging readers of the book when it was only half-written); Charlotte Stretch (for being one of the first and best readers of the finished version, not to mention years of supportive friendship); Andrew Hodgkiss, Robert Coe and Julie Coe (for offering me secluded bolt-holes in which to write); and, for various invaluable forms of help and inspiration, Steve Swannell, Aneeqa Munir, Vanessa Guignery, Michele O’Leary, Michael Singer, Peter Cartwright, Catherine Poust, Andrew Brewerton, Anne Philippe Besson, Julia Jordan, Philippe Auclair and Judith Hawley.

Late in 2016, at an auction for the charity Freedom from Torture, Emily Shamma bid to have a character in the book named after her, and Samuel Morton of Freedom for Torture subsequently sent me a message about the origins of Emily’s name. I’m grateful to Emily for making the bid – and for having such an interesting name: I hope she likes what I’ve done with it.

The characters of Lionel Hampshire and Hermione Dawes first appeared in my story ‘Canadians Can’t Flirt’, included in the anthology Tales from a Master’s Notebook (Jonathan Cape, 2018). My thanks to Philip Horne for commissioning the story, and to the ghost of Henry James for inspiring it.

Many of the details in Chapters 9 and 10 are taken from Mad Mobs and Englishmen?: Myths and Realities of the 2011 Riots , by Cliff Stott and Steve Reicher (Robinson, 2011).

Most of the ‘Merrie England’ section was written in Marseille, during a residency funded by the literary organization La Marelle. I’d like to thank Pascal Jourdana for inviting me to that city, and for the friendship that followed; and also Fanny Pomarède for providing me with such a warm and welcoming space in which to write those early chapters.

Last, but not least, my thanks go to Tony Peake: my agent for almost thirty years, my dear friend for just as long, a superb reader and critic, a generous man in every way, without whose unfailing loyalty and support this book – and most of my others – would not even exist.

THE BEGINNING

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VIKING

UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia India | New Zealand | South Africa Viking is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.

First published 2018

Copyright © Jonathan Coe, 2018

The moral right of the author has been asserted Jacket image © The National Railway Museum/Science and Society Picture Library Photo © Bridgeman Images Author photograph © Caroline Irby ISBN: 978-0-241-98132-0