Middle England

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Middle England by Jonathan Coe: Episode 1

Episode 1

Middle England by Jonathan Coe

BBC Radio 4 - Middle England by Jonathan Coe, Episode 1

Jonathan Coe's comic novel about Brexit Britain read by Jeff Rawle.

4 Extra Debut. A state-of-the-nation comic novel trying to make sense of Brexit Britain. Starts with bigotgate. Read by Jeff Rawle. From 2018.

'It was tempting to think, at times like this, that some bizarre hysteria had gripped the British people.'

Jonathan Coe's 2018 novel, is about the lead up to Brexit. His previous work includes What a Carve Up! and The Rotter's Club.

Beginning in 2010, on the outskirts of Birmingham, car factories have been replaced by pound shops.  Meanwhile in London, riots give way to Olympic fever.

Newlyweds Ian and Sophie are on either side of the Referendum debate; Doug, the left-wing journalist writes about austerity from his Chelsea townhouse, and his radical teenage daughter will stop at nothing in her quest for social justice; Benjamin Trotter, attempts a new career in middle age, and his father Colin's final wish is to vote to leave the EU. 

Episode 1: 2010: on the eve of the election, Gordon Brown calls a member of the public ' a bigoted woman', and the Potter family reconvene after their mother's funeral.

Reader: Jeff Rawle 

Abridger: Richard Hamilton

Producer: Justine Willett

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2018.

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