The Following review was contributed by: John Walsh

“I was hoping for some breakfast,” she said.

“Breakfast has been served,” he answered, without looking up. “You’re too late.”

“I could do myself some toast: if there’s a toaster somewhere I could use.”

He stared at her as if she were a madwoman.

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” he said. “There are cold kidneys left. That’s all. And some sweetbreads.”

Living away from one’s home country, it is salutary at times to be reminded of all the hypocrisy, the snobbishness, the corruption and the sheer misery of living in Britain, especially when tempted to view place through a warming, post-Christmas fug. This satire by Jonathan Coe is the perfect antidote for any such nostalgia – and should be required reading for anyone interested in understanding England and the English (for this is a book about England rather than the United Kingdom).

The action mostly features upon the Winshaw family and their generally disastrous interactions with the outside world. From the arms trade and illegal exporting to the Saddam Hussein regime, the degradation of the media and popular culture, the destruction of labour laws and standards to the complete disregard and contempt for anyone without money, the Winshaws are the perfect embodiment of Thatcherite England. For this is a book that helps reveal the reality of Thatcherism, that dreadful period during the 1980s that wrought such damage on the social fabric of the country that it will take decades for it to recover.

Rants and Jeremiads about Thatcherism are common, of course, for it has never been difficult to see beneath the thin veneer of respectability hiding the naked greed and disregard for others which mark that ideology. What marks out Coe’s work as a significant work of art is the humour that spears every one of its targets, systematically progressing through each aspect of the political economy despoiled by Thatcherite philosophies. The Winshaws themselves are gloriously hideous gargoyles – but then, no one else comes out of it very well either.

A wonderful and very funny satire – read it.