308 reviews for:

Bournville

Jonathan Coe

3.81 AVERAGE

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced
emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
reflective relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
fast-paced
emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

While this was an enjoyable family saga, set against post war English social history, I don’t think I’d describe it as particularly funny or moving. Coe explores societal change, set in Bournville as middle England, and featuring the EU Chocolate Wars, through Mary the central character. Starting a VE Day and finishing with a lockdown-period funeral, it touches in a range of themes which reading groups will find easy to discuss. It’s a very accessible novel, flowing prose, and has links to another 4 books, which readers may want to go on and explore.
emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

 When Bournville starting popping up in a few publications’ Best of 2022 lists I’d never heard of it. As soon as I learned it was a multi-generational family story in which chocolate played a prominent role I placed the library hold.

The story is centred around the family of Mary Lamb, many of whom live and work in Bournville, a model near Birmingham established for employees of the Cadbury factory. The novel spans 75 years and is divided into 7 episodes each tied to a key event in British history - VE Day, the 1966 World Cup final, and many related to royalty including the Queen’s coronation, the wedding of Charles and Diana, and her funeral. It’s decidedly a political novel, and a novel of its time, with Welsh nationalism, disputes over the labelling of chocolate within the EU, Brexit and Covid all featuring prominently. Yet it’s also the story of an ordinary family living relatable, ordinary lives - dating, deciding who to marry, having children .. and then grandchildren and still later great grandchildren, enjoying successes, suffering setbacks, dealing with family dynamics like the quietly racist relation, not to mention being gay and haunted by a homophobic remark you heard a parent make while you were a child. The final section is heartbreaking and poignant, especially after learning it is based on the author’s real-life experience. Readers who lost anyone during the peak of Covid restrictions might want to give it a miss.

Overall I thought this was a strong novel. It’s multi-layered yet easily readable, and managed to successfully blend larger scale political issues with personal and family matters. There are also plenty of Easter eggs from the author’s previous books. I imagine this would add an extra layer to the reading experience but since this was my first book by him I can’t say for sure. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated