I've seen other readers complain that this book is too similar to Middle England, and that all Jonathan Coe does is samey state-of-the-nation novels. I have to disagree. I found this very different to Middle England - a completely different set of characters and tone. And while Coe does have a strong line in state-of-the-nation novels, he's SO GOOD AT THEM that I really don't mind. My only real gripe about this book (and I very rarely say this) is that it could have been longer.

The book is a series of snapshots in the life of Mary, who was born in Bournville, Birmingham in the 1930s. Each snapshot comes at a time of national togetherness or crisis (usually both) - VE Day, England winning the 1966 World Cup, the marriage of Charles and Diana, the COVID pandemic, among others. I thought it worked really well, but I would still have liked to have spent more time with the characters to get to know them in a bit more depth. For a work that spans a whole dynasty over eight decades, I felt like it could have been a fair bit longer.

I also really appreciated the parts of the book about lockdown and the pandemic. It's the first fiction I've read set around that time and I think he captured it really well - the paranoia, anxiety and confusion of February and March 2020; the disbelief; the isolation; the inequality in peoples' experiences of lockdown. It was all there and well rendered. I don't think anyone has really processed the pandemic, and as a society we definitely haven't. More good lockdown novels please!