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Crossing the Lines

Crossing the Lines

by Melvyn Bragg (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 2003

    $3.22

  • Used

    Paperback 2004

    $3.22

  • New

    Paperback 2004

    $10.98
Synopsis

The story of Joe from the end of A Son Of War , aged 16 (1955), through to the end of his first year at Oxford (1959), crossing the lines between childhood and adulthood as well as crossing from working class small town Wigton to cosmpolitan, rarified Oxford and all that promises for the future. The main thread is his relationship with Rachel, the 15-yr-old schoolgirl he starts going out with in secret for fear of her father's fury and ends up engaged to while at Oxford until she breaks it off, knowing that they are on different paths in life and she belongs in the old, Wigton one. The dramas are the stuff of ordinary, family life, but Joe's rites of passage through adolescence will resonate with many, as will the example he sets of the new, post-war generation - the first 'teenagers', rock and roll and Teddy Boys.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 496
 Edition: 1st Edition
 Publisher: Sceptre
Published: 09 Jun 2003
ISBN 10: 0340829656
ISBN 13: 9780340829653
Book Overview: Melvyn Bragg's first novel, For Want of a Nail was published in 1965 and since then his novels have included The Hired Man , for which he won the Time/Life Silver Pen Award, Without a City Wall , winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, Credo , The Maid of Buttermere and The Soldier's Return , which won the WHSmithh Literary Award, and the follow-up, A Son of War . He has also written many non-fiction titles.

Media Reviews
'Enthralling, a joy to read ... The range of characters... is evidence of the richness of Melvyn Bragg's imagination. He brings to life all sorts of people, and so deepens and extends our understanding ... It's a conventional story, and you may think you have read it often. So indeed you probably have. Yet Melvyn Bragg makes it new. He makes it new and he makes it matter. He has a rare gift for exploring the inability of people to express their feelings, while allowing the reader to understand just how intense and deep those feelings are ... There is humour in the novel. There is much pleasure to be had from its recapture of times, moods, attitudea which have now slipped away. But what I admire most is Bragg's ability to give dignity to all his characters, to treat the inarticulate, and those whose experience of life is narrow, with the same respect he gives to his young hero. And he does this without sliding into sentimentality ... [it] is immensely satisfying, written with honesty and imagination ... it's a book you can trust, written with the utmost integrity. Bragg's material has been a long time maturing, and is all the better for that. The result is a novel to live in. By that I mean of course that it's one that enriches the reader's life.' -- Allan Massie, Scotsman 'Enthralling, a joy to read ... immensely satisfying ... [it] is a novel to live in. By that I mean of course that it's one that enriches the reader's life.' -- Allan Massie, Scotsman THE SOLDIER'S RETURN 'His masterpiece' Peter Kemp, Sunday Times' Books of the Year -- Peter Kemp, Sunday Times' Books of the Year 'Unsentimental, truthful and wonderful' -- Beryl Bainbridge, Independent's Books of the Year 'An outstandingly good novel ! One of the best English novels of the last ten years ! utterly credible, utterly compelling and very enjoyable' -- Allan Massie, Scotsman A SON OF WAR 'A novel of remarkable power and grace ! his authenticity is astounding' -- Roy Hattersley, The Times 'Shot through with blazing integrity and authenticity' -- Val Hennessy, Daily Mail 'He has laid the foundations for one of the finest literary sagas of post-war Britain.' David Robson, Sunday Telegraph -- David Robson, Sunday Telegraph 'Crossing the Lines is both richly detailed and extraordinarily poignant' -- The Sunday Telegraph 20030601 'a remarkable portrait of post-war Britain...combining evocative and convincing period details with effortless and engrossing story-telling, it is a considerable achievement - and a wonderfully readable book.' -- SAGA 20030601
Author Bio
Melvyn Bragg's first novel, For Want of a Nail, was published in 1965 and since then his novels have included The Hired Man, for which he won the Time/Life Silver Pen Award, Without a City Wall, winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, Credo, The Maid of Buttermere and The Soldier's Return, which was published to huge critical acclaim in 1999 and won the WHSmith Literary Award. He has also written several works of non-fiction including Speak for England, an oral history of the twentieth century, Rich, a biography of Richard Burton and On Giants' Shoulders, a history of science based on his BBC radio series. He is controller of Arts at LWT and President of the National Campaign for the Arts, and in 1998 he was made a life peer. He lives in London and Cumbria.