{"title":"Jonathan Coe","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJonathan Coe\u003c\/strong\u003e crafts narratives that blend sharp social commentary with richly drawn characters. His works, such as \u003cem\u003eThe Rotters' Club\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eMiddle England\u003c\/em\u003e, explore Britain's recent history with wit and insight, capturing the complexities of personal and political life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect a thoughtful mix of historical and general fiction, where humour and poignancy coexist. Coe's storytelling delves into relationships, memory, and the changing cultural landscape, offering engaging, intelligent reflections on contemporary Britain.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"bournville-by-jonathan-coe-9780241517406","title":"Bournville","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA moving, brutally funny and true portrait of Britain told through four generations of one family.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eBournville\u003c\/em\u003e, 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMary will go on to live through seventy-five years of social change, from the Coronation and the World Cup final, to royal weddings, 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. Will these changing times bring Mary's family—and their country—closer together, or leave them more adrift and divided than ever before?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46235613593836,"sku":"9780241517406","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780241517406.jpg?v=1741130328"},{"product_id":"middle-england-by-jonathan-coe-9780241983683","title":"Middle England","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe novel to truly capture the comedy and tragedy of our times.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBeginning eight years ago on the outskirts of Birmingham, where car factories have been replaced by Poundland, and London, where frenzied riots give way to Olympic fever, \u003cem\u003eMiddle England\u003c\/em\u003e follows a brilliantly vivid cast of characters through a time of immense change.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThere are newlyweds Ian and Sophie, who disagree about the future of the country and, possibly, the future of their relationship; Doug, the political commentator who writes impassioned columns about austerity from his Chelsea townhouse, and his radical teenage daughter who will stop at nothing in her quest for social justice; Benjamin Trotter, who embarks on an apparently doomed new career in middle age, and his father Colin, whose last wish is to vote in the European referendum. And within all these lives is the story of modern England—a story of nostalgia and delusion; of bewilderment and barely-suppressed rage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFollowing in the footsteps of \u003cem\u003eThe Rotters' Club\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Closed Circle\u003c\/em\u003e, Jonathan Coe's new novel is the novel for our strange new times.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46495218237676,"sku":"9780241983683","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3550373482274.jpg?v=1748471378"},{"product_id":"the-rotters-club-by-jonathan-coe-9780241986479","title":"The Rotters' Club","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe bestselling comic novel, now a Penguin Essential\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eUnforgettably funny and painfully honest, Jonathan Coe's tale of Benjamin Trotter and his friends' coming of age during the 1970s is a heartfelt celebration of the joys and agonies of growing up.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFeaturing, among other things, IRA bombs, prog rock, punk rock, bad poetry, first love, love on the side, prefects, detention, a few bottles of Blue Nun, lots of brown wallpaper, industrial strife, and divine intervention in the form of a pair of swimming trunks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSet against the backdrop of the decade's class struggles, tragic and riotous by turns, packed with thwarted romance and furtive sex, \u003cem\u003eThe Rotters' Club\u003c\/em\u003e is for anyone who ever experienced adolescence the hard way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46496270942444,"sku":"9780241986479","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3578333482274.jpg?v=1748495815"},{"product_id":"the-proof-of-my-innocence-by-jonathan-coe-9780241678428","title":"The Proof of My Innocence","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA blistering political critique wrapped up in a murder mystery - from the bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eMiddle England\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePost-university life doesn't suit Phyl. Time passes slowly living back home with her parents, working a zero-hour contract serving Japanese food to holidaymakers at Heathrow's Terminal 5. As for her budding plans of becoming a writer, those are going nowhere.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThat is, until family friend Chris comes to stay. He's been on the path to uncover a sinister think-tank, founded at Cambridge University in the 1980s, that's been scheming to push the British government in a more extreme direction. One that's finally poised to put their plans into action.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut speaking truth to power can be dangerous - and power will stop at nothing to stay on top.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs Britain finds itself under the leadership of a new Prime Minister whose tenure will only last for seven weeks, Chris pursues his story to a conference being held deep in the Cotswolds, where events take a sinister turn and a murder enquiry is soon in progress. But will the solution to the mystery lie in contemporary politics, or in a literary enigma that is almost forty years old?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDarting between decades and genres, \u003cem\u003eThe Proof of My Innocence\u003c\/em\u003e is a wickedly funny and razor-sharp new novel from one of Britain's most beloved novelists, showing how the key to understanding the present can often be found in the murkiest corners of the past.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46533578719468,"sku":"9780241678428","price":35.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/497823482274.jpg?v=1749391416"},{"product_id":"the-rain-before-it-falls-by-jonathan-coe-9780241996553","title":"The Rain Before it Falls","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA mesmerizing study of human character from one of the masters of modern fiction — now a Penguin Essential.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Rain Before it Falls\u003c\/em\u003e is centred on Rosamund, who lies dying in her remote Shropshire home. Before she passes, she has one last task: to put on tape not just her own story, but the story of the young blind girl, her cousin's granddaughter, who turned up mysteriously at her party all those years ago. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThrough this evocative tale, Rosamund seeks to impart to Imogen, \"What I want you to have, Imogen, above all, is a sense of your own history; a sense of where you come from, and of the forces that made you.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis novel is a story of generations, exploring the intricacies of family relationships and the myriad forces that contribute to shaping a child.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46533583110380,"sku":"9780241996553","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3679073482274.jpg?v=1749392175"},{"product_id":"the-proof-of-my-innocence-by-jonathan-coe-9781405962414","title":"The Proof of My Innocence","description":"Darting between decades, perspectives and countries, THE PROOF OF MY INNOCENCE is a wickedly funny political murder mystery with a big heart - from the best-selling, beloved and prize winning author\n\nPost-university life doesn't suit Phyl. Time passes slowly, living with her parents and working a zero-hours contract at Heathrow Airport, while her budding plans of becoming a writer are going nowhere.\n\nThat is, until family friend Chris comes to stay. He's been investigating a radical think tank, founded at Cambridge University in the 1980s, that's been scheming to push the British government in an ever more extreme direction. When he follows this story to a conference in a rambling old hotel deep in the Cotswolds, events take a bizarre and sinister turn. Soon he is caught up in a world of cryptic clues, secret passages and, eventually, murder.\n\nIn the end, despite the efforts of a suitably eccentric detective, it falls to Phyl herself - ably assisted by Chris's outspoken adopted daughter Rashida - to look for answers to the fatal mystery. But will they lie in contemporary politics, or in a literary enigma that is almost forty years old?","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47288982274284,"sku":"9781405962414","price":28.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/b6dd66182bcd398b59952cefd06d894c.jpg?v=1770602412"},{"product_id":"lessons-in-harmony-by-jonathan-coe-9780241837740","title":"Lessons in Harmony","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA moving and heartfelt new novel from one of Britain's greatest writers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe year is 1907, and Maurice Ravel is one of the most admired young composers in France. In Belle Epoque Paris, he cuts a charismatic, dandyish figure, whose technically flawless music hides a deep emotional core, and whose unpredictable talent is as hard to pin down as his mysterious personal life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Ravel's devoted acolyte Mylo encourages him to take on a new pupil—a rising British composer called Ralph Vaughan Williams—an unlikely cross-channel friendship starts to blossom. An aristocratic Englishman and collector of folk songs, Vaughan Williams appears to have nothing in common with his teacher except that, somehow, each of them seems to represent an archetype of his own country.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut as the shadow of war approaches, their friendship becomes entwined with Mylo's own tragic story. The two friends must pursue their vocation through one of the most turbulent but creative periods in history. Will their differing senses of national identity—one \u003cem\u003etypically French\u003c\/em\u003e, the other \u003cem\u003eso British\u003c\/em\u003e—liberate or constrain them?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLessons in Harmony\u003c\/em\u003e is a stunning novel about the power of music to create beauty, to freeze time, and, at its greatest, to express the personality not just of its composer, but of an entire nation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233129476332,"sku":"9780241837740","price":42.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780241837740-lessons-in-harmony-1.jpg?v=1787726725"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/jonathan-coe.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}