I thought at first this was five separate short stories, but I soon worked out that each of the five contains at least one of the characters from the previous segments, and they actually work together to portray a lifetime’s-worth of scenes and incidents of various members of a couple of connected families.

From a girl’s childhood experience in an old cathedral, to an ageing singer’s attempt at a TV comeback, we hear the tale of a man’s desperate obsession with a beautiful childhood memory, enjoy the humour of a police case investigating murders of comedians, and a final story set in the upper class world of dog-walking and nannies.

There are connections, and the number Eleven appears in each, for some it’s a fleeting appearance, for others it holds more significance. I spent time pondering on the title – what DOES it mean, when it means so little in some of these stories? I came to the conclusion that it’s possibly to show that little things connect us, that coincidences exist and happen all the time, that insignificant things can play a bigger role later, when we’re not expecting it.

It’s hard to jump from one story to the next, with a nearly-all-different set of characters and settings, but I got used to this fairly easily as each story has a genre and interest all of its own. I enjoyed seeing characters recurring at later times in their lives, it felt like ‘catching up’ with them after the events I’d read earlier.

The final story was the only one to puzzle me, I wasn’t sure where Coe was taking the reader, the genre veered around a few times and I’m still not sure I agree with his ending, it felt so out-of-step with everything that had gone before.

But I did relish reading what felt like short stories but were actually vignettes in the lives of a few connected friends. My favourite parts were those with a hideous journalist, two very different policemen (and their nicknames), the story of an old film, and the glimpse into the lives of the uber-rich and their homes.

Not a straightforward read by any means, it’s no thriller (though the police segment is pretty hilarious and also contains a murder story) but is a really enjoyable read and a breath of fresh air to see snatches from a person’s life, and their growing connections with a series of others.

You’ll think and concentrate, and hopefully enjoy it as much as I did. Definitely a good discussion choice for reading groups.