The Rotters' Club

Growing in 70s Britain

The Rotters' Club is Jonathan Coe's second book of a trilogy that looks at England's recent history.As previously reviewed, What a carve up! was about corruption, wealth and power by a few aristocratic members of a family with very good connections running the show. This time, we are transported to the world of a group of teenagers and their stranded families in the 70s in Birmingham; a convulsed time, particularly for the offspring of the Brummie working-class, in search of a better future.Though with a slightly different angle, the book reminded me of a film, Made in Dagenham, that also portrays British working class' struggles and aspirations.
Intertwining different stories and plots, something recurrent in Coe's novels, the book slowly unfolds a number of scenarios that defined the lives of its young characters; college students on their way to university and all the opportunities that are awaiting them, once they leave school and join the ranks of the Oxbridge new breed.
Coe describes with rich detail, originality  and ingenious the life in school as well as the different intrigues, passions and romance that inevitably arise as the story plods on.
Overall, and despite the personal interest I have in this particular time of British history, the book failed to impress me as the story somehow looses spark in various moments. It doesn't offer the intrigue and twists that What a carve up! had and it is, in many an occasion, blighted by clichés, particularly when tackling topics   concerning school life.
Despite this, I'm still looking forward to getting hold of the third instalment of the trilogy, The Closed Circle, which will bring us to the Blair years and the changes the country went through those years. A post on this book will published in due course.