The Rotters’ Club (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Jonathan Coe
- First Published: 2001
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: The 1970’s
- Setting: Birmingham, England
- Principal Characters: Benjamin Trotter, Lois Trotter, Doug Anderton, Philip Chase, Sean Harding, Steve Richards, Cicely Boyd
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: 1970’s, Politics, Teenagers, Twentieth century, Music or musicians, Immigration or emigration, England or English people, Conservatism, Students or student life, Labor unions, Strikes or lockouts, Great Britain, Popular music
- Locales: Birmingham, England
Jonathan Coe’s novel centers on the lives of a group of classmates at a tony school in Birmingham, England, and though the attention shifts among the different teenagers, Ben Trotter is the protagonist. Although he is not an exemplary student, he entertains lofty ambitions to be a professional musician and writer. As he fitfully pursues his dreams, his secure little world is rocked by disaster when his sister barely survives a pub bombing and his friends endure domestic upheavals of their own.
Paralleling the confusions of the adolescents are the instabilities in their...
[The entire page is 1984 words long]
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