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Longlisted for the Booker Prize
After the upheavals of the Second World War, the Richardson family – Sam, Ellen and their young son Joe – settle back to working-class life in the Cumbrian town of Wigton. Yet for them, as for so many, life will never be the same again. As the old order begins to be challenged and new vistas open, Sam and Ellen forge their future together with differing needs and desires – and conflicting expectations of Joe, who grows up with his own demons to confront.
After the upheavals of the Second World War, the Richardson family – Sam, Ellen and their young son Joe – settle back to working-class life in the Cumbrian town of Wigton. Yet for them, as for so many, life will never be the same again. As the old order begins to be challenged and new vistas open, Sam and Ellen forge their future together with differing needs and desires – and conflicting expectations of Joe, who grows up with his own demons to confront.
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Reviews
It is as if these were the novels he was always waiting to write . . . He catches brilliantly the volatility of emotions - how happiness can curdle, anger flare, guilt build into terrror.
A novel about being alive, the kind of slice-of-life novel that everyone feels they have inside them but few could write
Shot through with blazing integrity and authenticity
This sequel to The Soldier's Return - widely acclaimed as Melvyn Bragg's best novel - is every bit as convincing and enjoyable . . .This seems likely to become not only an outstandingly good series but one of the finest and most authentic records of the changes in English society, life and manners since the Second World War
[A] deeply humane and acutely truthful novel
A compelling sequel to his award-winning tour de force, The Soldier's Return
A novel of remarkable power and grace . . . his authenticity is astounding
Full of a simple poetry that is deeply evocative . . . even better than The Soldier's Return