Number 11 - Tapa dura

"At one point a gothic mystery, at another, a detective story with all the trappings . . . an open-choked literary shotgun, doing the maximum amount of satirical damage to the widest possible swath of targets. . . . black-hearted and darkly funny in the way that only well-executed satire can be. . . . And in that way, maybe it's the perfect book for our time. Even here, especially now."--Jason Sheehan, NPR

"Jonathan Coe might be England's best current novelist."-- Michael D. Langan, The Buffalo News

"Rollicking. . . novel, a (sort of) sequel to his comic masterpiece The Winshaw Legacy [and a] thoroughly enjoyable balm to the current political climate."--Bill Kelly, Booklist

"This powerful and enthralling novel takes the measure of a society feeding on its members as little contemporary fiction has."--Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"Coe succeeds in bringing together the many threads woven through this darkly comic novel with political and economic undercurrents and one big, hairy spider. A very pleasurable read."--Barbara Love, Library Journal (starred)

"An entertaining satire . . . widely, admirably panoramic."--Publishers Weekly

..".We owe a great debt of gratitude to Jonathan Coe, who allows us...to behold old terrors in a startling new way."--Chris Lehmann, In These Times

The long-awaited sequel to The Winshaw Legacy, the novel that introduced American readers to one of Britain's most exciting new writers--an acerbic, hilariously dark, and unflinching portrait of modern society.

The novel opens in the early aughts: two ten-year-olds, Alison and Rachel, have a frightening encounter with the "Mad Bird Woman" who lives down the road. As the narrative progresses through time, the novel envelops others who are connected to the girls: Alison's mother, a has-been singer, competing on a hit reality TV show; Rachel's university mentor confronting her late husband's disastrously obsessive search for a German film he saw as a child; a young police constable investigating the seemingly accidental and unrelated deaths of two stand-up comedians; the ludicrously wealthy family who hire Rachel as a nanny--under whose immense London mansion Rachel will discover a dark and terrifying secret. Psychological insight, social commentary, vicious satire, and even surrealist horror are combined in this highly accomplished work to hold up a revealing, disquieting mirror to the world we live in today.