by Christos Zabounis

I am reading Jonathan Coe’s Bournville in the French edition I found in the library of the Grand Hotel of Rhodes. The Greek subtitle? “The Divided Kingdom”, is the French title “Royame desuni”. More commercial I would say, although the British author’s reputation has skyrocketed internationally, so readers buy his books just because of the signature. It is an intelligent parallel narrative of the macro-history of his country and the micro-history of one of its families, the Mary Clark’s one. “Charles and Diana embrace. Camera flashes are going off”, will be the front page of the newspapers tomorrow. Seven hundred and fifty million television viewers watch them all over the world. Among them a family transfixed in front of the television set in Bournville, Birmingham. Postal Code B30′. National events are broadcast on the small screen. Victory Day 1945, Elizabeth’s coronation, England winning the World Cup in 1966, the Thatcher years, Boris Johnson, Brexit, the pandemic. The way the middle-class family of Bournville lives and feels the developments is reflected in their everyday life. A nostalgia for what was lost, but also a pride for the indomitable English psyche. What a shame Coe missed King Charles’ tour of Australia and Samoa! What a shame we lost the description of his speech to the Commonwealth General Assembly of the 56 member states and 2.7 billion people! Well, not a divided kingdom, really!