In Middle of England, one of Jonathan Coe’s last books, there is a chapter-scene where all the main characters, whether in small groups or alone, do the same thing: watching the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on TV in London in 2012 . A unique case, one of the few capable of setting up an entire nation, serves as a collective psychoanalytic mirror for the author, a snapshot of a moment that nonetheless has timeless value. This particular idea seemed to please the British author so much that he decided to apply it to the whole of Bourneville, his new novel, which was recently released in Greek by Polis. Seven different episodes, most of which are related to some kind of royal event (coronations, weddings, etc.), tell the story of one family, and with it the whole country.

“Most of the moments I chose myself. I don’t like the royal family and I don’t care so it seems a bit odd that there are so many episodes about them. But at the same time, it tells you something about British history of the last 75 years and the moments that made us gather around the TV,” said Jonathan Coe, who was in Athens the day before for the book launch. His style and voice reveal the measured and at the same time playful tone that usually distinguishes his works.

We are more of a nation of individualists. There is a reason why Thatcher came to England and managed to capture the British imagination so successfully.

However, here everything begins on May 8, 1945, on Victory Day in Europe. “Since 2016, when the UK decided to leave the European Union, there has been an ongoing debate between us about what kind of country we are and who we want to become. While all this was going on I was writing Middle England, but this time I thought it would be interesting to go back a bit and see if I could trace the roots of this controversy. Instinctively it seemed right to go all the way to the end of World War II, which is more or less the furthest frontier in living memory. A system of seven different events helped to cover 75 years in one book,” notes Coe.

One of the most central themes of Bourneville, which takes place primarily in the Birmingham and English Midlands area, has to do with the concept of “Britishness” or “Englishness” and how it often clashes with European values. the unity of the United Kingdom itself. “Personally, I feel very English. Until recently, I didn’t ask myself what that meant, and I probably keep going back to books just because I can’t find the answer. National identity is very important to how we see ourselves, but at the same time it is also an elusive and elusive entity. Although I avoid generalizations, I would say that we do not have that strong sense of community that exists in other European countries. We are more of a nation of individualists. There is a reason why Thatcher came to England and was able to capture the British imagination so successfully.”

Brexit 2016 Coe considers a decisive moment not only in the history of the country, but also in its very identity. “One of the paradoxes of Brexit is that it spawned a wave of Europhilia. Do you no longer see EU flags? in the windows, which has never happened before. On the other hand, there are certainly many people who feel that their “Englishness” is limited to the EU. I personally understand why so many people voted to leave. The fact that the vast majority of politicians were in favor of staying certainly played a role. There is a lot of anger against the political system and the establishment in general, so this was an opportunity to respond. The result was simply an exit from the EU. When a question is put to a referendum, everyone can read it differently. For many people, what they read was, “Are you angry?” And they answered yes.

To take the reader deeper into the UK’s rocky relationship with the EU, Coe tells the story of the “Chocolate War,” the decades-long conflict in the European Parliament between England’s Cadbury and its German rivals, France, Italy, etc. “The EU obviously isn’t perfect, and Greece knows this better than the rest of us, I know how bureaucratic and monolithic it can be, something that can be mercilessly criticized and ridiculed, but after weighing the pros and cons, I think it’s better to be a member. I think the “chocolate war” is a good example of what’s good about the EU and what’s just funny It took us 30 years to define what chocolate is, of course it’s funny, on the other hand, the fact that we did it is a small triumph in itself.”

I really believe in the younger generation, maybe even too much

As we have said, the history of the royal family largely defines the chapters of the book, from the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953 to the tragic death of Diana in 1997. “Between 1953 and 1997, a lot has changed in British society. The respect and reverence that the world had for the Queen completely changed in 1997. It was the people and the popular media that were now asking her to show some emotion, to grieve, to be human. In 1953, on the contrary, the queen was an emblem, a symbol. As for the future, I believe that the royal family in the coming decades will be of much less importance and will practically disappear from public life. Although as an institution it will probably continue to exist.”

In the novel, one of the central characters, Maria, is a reserved matriarch around whom three different generations of a family coexist. However, her death reveals divisions, and now everyone is called to “pick sides,” as one of the heroines put it. “This work was written before the death of the queen, but it could also be about her. Because Mary really kept this family together for 70 years; out of respect and love for her, everyone put their differences aside, but now she’s gone, and maybe we can’t do that anymore. It seems to me that this is a good parallel with the queen. Our conversation soon turns to the notion of conservatism, British and not only, which has taken various forms in recent years, even coming under the cloak of progress. “These days everything is discussed. I don’t think I can even define what conservatism is. As a political party, the British Conservatives have moved even further to the right – they now have a lot of extremists in their ranks who talk about “national conservatism”, which, for my taste, is too similar to “National Socialism”. Labor, on the other hand, is definitely on the defensive at the moment, afraid of losing votes, as they did in 2019. Traditionally, their conferences ended with a negative reaction to the “red flag”. Now lately they’ve only been playing the national anthem…”.

Is the recent censorship of the works of Agatha Christie and Roald Dahl a sign of another, no less dangerous neo-conservatism? “I don’t know if this can be called conservatism, but I don’t think that Agatha Christie should be censored. This is not very honest and sincere. Obviously, in her work, as in the work of Roald Dahl or Ian Fleming, there are points that are problematic today. But equally, these offensive messages should encourage us to question and dialogue about values ​​that have changed over the years, not just sweep them under the carpet and pretend they never existed. My daughter first saw Daniel Craig’s James Bond films, which are more politically correct, in a good way. When I showed her the ones with Roger Moore, after two minutes she looked at me puzzled: “Was that James Bond? He’s terrible!” In general, I have a lot of confidence in the younger generation, maybe even too much,” concludes Jonathan Coe with a smile.