The master of social satire turns to the Cold War for his latest comedy and has the hapless Thomas Foley way out of his depth in a Brussels staging the first world fair since the Second World War. That the Russian and American exhibits stand side by side gives you the flavour of this curious tale, a book about choice, life and the late 50s.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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London, 1958: unassuming civil servant Thomas Foley is plucked from his desk at the Central Office of Information and sent on a six-month trip to Brussels. His task: to keep an eye on The Brittania, a brand new pub which will form the heart of the British presence at Expo 58 - the biggest World's Fair of the century, and the first to be held since the Second World War. As soon as he arrives at the site, Thomas feels that he has escaped a repressed, backward-looking country and fallen headlong into an era of modernity and optimism. He is equally bewitched by the surreal, gigantic Atomium, which stands at the heart of this brave new world, and by Anneke, the lovely Flemish hostess who meets him off his plane. But Thomas' new-found sense of freedom comes at a price: the Cold War is at its height, the mischievous Belgians have placed the American and Soviet pavilions right next to each other - and why is he being followed everywhere by two mysterious emissaries of the British Secret Service? Expo 58 may represent a glittering future, both for Europe and for Thomas himself, but he will soon be forced to decide where his public and private loyaties really lie. For fans of Jonathan Coe's classic comic bestsellers What a Carve Up! and The Rotters' Club, this hilarious new novel, which is set in the Mad Men period of the mid 50s, will also be loved by readers of Nick Hornby, William Boyd and Ian McEwan.
Expo 58 features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, eBooks of the Month, Historical Fiction, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
Expo 58 is available in Paperback, Hardback
Expo 58 was written by Jonathan Coe and published by Penguin Books Ltd
Expo 58 has 273 pages
£9.89
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