A family inheritance quarrel against the backdrop of the prorogation of parliament in 2019, Julia Winter’s debut Brexit novel is for all of us still reeling, still licking our sores, and still trying to understand the phenomenon that took most of us by surprise. Referencing several different texts as a way for her eccentric heroine to trace the historical thought patterns that led to Brexit, it’s an unusual novel that the author has been working on ever since it all began.

“I started thinking about this book after the prorogation of parliament in August 2019,” explains Julia. “The Easter of 2019, I had been to stay with a friend who had a family house in Dover, and I had a sense of loss there, connected with Brexit. When the prorogation of parliament happened, I thought setting it in Dover would be the perfect coming together of events. At that time, the subject was under a horrific social taboo, and yet there seemed so much to talk about, which is why I had to write the book. I hope some people are able to read some answers into it, but also enjoy the story.”

Late August, 2019. As talk of a prorogation of parliament overwhelms the news cycle, a cast of London guests are holidaying in an Edwardian family house at the seaside in Dover. Little do they know just how this parliamentary strife will affect their own lives over the coming days…

Left-wing liberal Cecily Hayes feels passionately that Brexit is laying siege to the England she loves. With this in mind, she embarks upon a literary quest, from John Foxe, through Milton, Defoe, Wollstonecraft and Blake, to discover what exactly it is, this ‘England’ of her heart. Quite contrary to this, Cecily’s friend Diana hopes, conversely, that Brexit can save her England from cultural extinction.

In the mix are also Cecily’s German-Togolese husband, Florian, who is consumed by the fallacies of neoliberalism in the Americas, and her bumptious public-school educated nephew, who hero-worships Jacob Rees-Mogg. Last-but-not-least there is Cecily’s jolly financial-adviser brother-in-law and her wealthy sister, Victoria, whose secret plans for the family house could – if Cecily only knew – turn her whole world upside-down.

Within that house, as the holiday progresses and struggles at home mirror the struggles in government, unravels a story of Brexit England: a world of confusion and delusion, fury and betrayal.

About the Author

After completing her history MA, Julia spent thirteen years living and working in Poland, before returning to the UK with her English-Polish family in 2013. This is her debut.

Publication Date: 28/08/2023

ISBN: 9781803137421

Price: £10.99