'Bournville' by Jonathan Coe
27 January 2023
Regular readers will know I am a big fan of the books of Jonathan Coe. When I wrote about his 2019 novel 'Middle England' (reviewed here in January 2019), the third in the series he began in 2001 with ‘The Rotters Club’, I said it felt like he was writing specially for me. The new Jonathan Coe novel ‘Bournville’, which I have just read as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Peter Caulfield and Cara Horgan, is similarly on my wavelength. It’s a moving family saga, starting on VE Day in 1945 and following Mary Lamb and her relatives through to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Set in and around Bournville in Birmingham, there is a lot of chocolate in this book. It will keep Jonathan Coe fans happy as it reprises all his favourite themes - from Birmingham to Brussels to some great writing about classical music: there is a whole section of the book themed around Messiaen’s ‘Quartet for the End of Time’. The story of generations within the same family set against the backdrop of key historic moments (the Coronation, the 1966 World Cup final etc) reminded me of Kate Atkinson’s ‘Behind the Scenes at the Museum’. Showing the lives of the main characters against the backdrop of real political events across the latter half of the 20th century also reminded me of Peter Flannery's ‘Our Friends in the North’ (reviewed here in April 2006), particularly in the poignant final chapters. While not strictly part of the series, ‘Bournville’ is a novel clearly set in the Rotters Club universe - with links to, and appearances by, members of the Trotter family. We also re-encounter Thomas Foley, the protagonist of another Jonathan Coe novel ‘Expo 58’ (reviewed here in September 2013). Like the Rotters Club books, there are cameos by some real figures - including Boris Johnson (though Jonathan Coe’s Author’s Note points out that “Whether he's a fictional character or not remains hard to determine”). And the sections about the pandemic are a valuable record of the peculiar period of lockdown that is already fast receding in the memory. Like ‘Middle England’, ‘Bournville’ is a comic tale about our recent history with a melancholic feel.
Labels: Books
'Empire' podcast
20 January 2023
I’m completely hooked on the ‘Empire’ podcast which looks at how empires rise, why they fall and how they have shaped the world around us today. ‘Empire’ uses the classic podcast formula of simply bringing together knowledgeable enthusiasts and allowing us to eavesdrop on their conversation. The historians William Dalrymple and Anita Anand, plus expert guests, weave a series of truly fascinating, shocking and revealing stories which provide much needed context and nuance to many of the challenges facing us today. The first series of ‘Empire’ focussed on the British in India, covering the East India Company, the Raj, Gandhi, Independence and Partition. The second series, which started in December 2022, looks at the Ottoman Empire. But the podcast format, with new episodes recorded each week, enables ‘Empire’ to respond to current events, such as the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the appointment of the UK’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister. The episode featuring David Olusoga discussing the Queen, the Commonwealth, the future of the monarchy and the long shadow of Empire, and the episode with Sathnam Sanghera talking about his book ‘Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain’ are both brilliant. All episodes of ‘Empire’ are still available to download: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/empire/id1639561921
Labels: Radio
New York Youth Symphony album
13 January 2023
When Covid halted live performance in 2020, the New York Youth Symphony - an orchestra for musicians between the ages of 12 and 22 - decided to channel its musical efforts into recording its first album. Following the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matters protests it was agreed that the album should be made up of works by Black composers. Because of the pandemic the album had to be recorded one section of the orchestra at a time so they could be socially distanced - and the recordings were painstakingly stitched together. Now, amazingly, the eponymous New York Youth Symphony album has been announced as one of the five nominees for the “Best Orchestral Performance” Grammy - an incredible achievement for a youth orchestra, nominated alongside some of the biggest and best professional orchestras in the world. I’ve been listening to the album, which is conducted by Michael Repper and produced by Judith Sherman, a 13-time Grammy winner, who is also nominated as classical producer of the year. It includes works by Jessie Montgomery, Valerie Coleman and Florence Price - whose ‘Symphony No 1’ we saw performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra at last year’s Edinburgh Festival (reviewed here in September 2022). The first piece on the album by Florence Price is ‘Ethiopia's Shadow in America’ - a three movement work composed in 1932 which was lost for many years and only rediscovered in 2009. It’s an entertaining and moving work with a lovely slow movement. The album also features Florence Price’s ‘Piano Concerto in One Movement’, played by Michelle Cann - a very tuneful, cheerful work. For more about the story of the New York Youth Symphony Grammy nomination, see: https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/entertainment/2022/11/16/new-york-youth-symphony-nominated-for-a-grammy
Labels: Albums, Music
‘How to Disappear’ by Gillian McAllister
6 January 2023
I really enjoyed Gillian McAllister’s quirky time-travelling crime thriller ‘Wrong Place Wrong Time’ (reviewed here in July 2022) so I was keen to read something else by her. ‘How to Disappear’, published in 2020, is a more conventional thriller which tells the story of a family entering witness protection. Told through a series of very short chapters, each alternating between the points of view of the main family members, it completely gripped me. It’s a believable contemporary tale which emphasises the difficulties of adopting a completely new identity, and avoiding contact with people from your previous life, in the age of social media. Gillian McAllister makes the novel pacy and incredibly scary: it’s the most tense I have felt while reading a book for years, but I couldn’t put it down.
Labels: Books
