Number 11 - Hardcover

Coe, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0451493362 ISBN 13: 9780451493361

Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc, 2017

Synopsis

The long-awaited sequel to The Winshaw Legacy, the novel that introduced American readers to one of Britain's most exciting new writers--an acerbic, hilariously dark, and unflinching portrait of modern society.

The novel opens in the early aughts: two ten-year-olds, Alison and Rachel, have a frightening encounter with the "Mad Bird Woman" who lives down the road. As the narrative progresses through time, the novel envelops others who are connected to the girls: Alison's mother, a has-been singer, competing on a hit reality TV show; Rachel's university mentor confronting her late husband's disastrously obsessive search for a German film he saw as a child; a young police constable investigating the seemingly accidental and unrelated deaths of two stand-up comedians; the ludicrously wealthy family who hire Rachel as a nanny--under whose immense London mansion Rachel will discover a dark and terrifying secret. Psychological insight, social commentary, vicious satire, and even surrealist horror are combined in this highly accomplished work to hold up a revealing, disquieting mirror to the world we live in today.

About this title

Review

"At one point a gothic mystery, at another, a detective story with all the trappings . . . an open-choked literary shotgun, doing the maximum amount of satirical damage to the widest possible swath of targets. . . . black-hearted and darkly funny in the way that only well-executed satire can be. . . . And in that way, maybe it's the perfect book for our time. Even here, especially now."--Jason Sheehan, NPR

"Jonathan Coe might be England's best current novelist."-- Michael D. Langan, The Buffalo News

"Rollicking. . . novel, a (sort of) sequel to his comic masterpiece The Winshaw Legacy [and a] thoroughly enjoyable balm to the current political climate."--Bill Kelly, Booklist

"This powerful and enthralling novel takes the measure of a society feeding on its members as little contemporary fiction has."--Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"Coe succeeds in bringing together the many threads woven through this darkly comic novel with political and economic undercurrents and one big, hairy spider. A very pleasurable read."--Barbara Love, Library Journal (starred)

"An entertaining satire . . . widely, admirably panoramic."--Publishers Weekly

..".We owe a great debt of gratitude to Jonathan Coe, who allows us...to behold old terrors in a startling new way."--Chris Lehmann, In These Times

From the Back Cover

This is a novel about the hundreds of tiny connections between the
public and private worlds and how they affect us all.

It's about the legacy of war and the end of innocence.

It's about how comedy and politics are battling it out and comedy might have won.

It's about how 140 characters can make fools of us all.

It's about living in a city where bankers need cinemas in their basements and others need food banks down the street.

It is Jonathan Coe doing what he does best ­ - showing us how we live now.

'You can't stop reading....I was haunted for days' The Independent

'No modern novelist is better at charting the precariousness of middle-class life' The Observer

'Read Number 11 to see what an odd country Britain has become' The Times

Edition details

• Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0451493362
• ISBN 13: 9780451493361
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 333