Crossing the Lines

Set in Britain during the 1950s, this moving and evocative novel follows the intertwined fates of people crossing boundaries in their lives. As a teenager in the small northern town of Wigton, Joe Richardson falls in love with Rachel, just when her life is about to be uprooted. While his parents, Sam and Ellen, face the frontiers of middle age, Joe finds himself drawn by the intoxicating world outside home, and swept into situations that seem beyond his control. Vividly conveying the spirit of the mid-century and the profound social changes taking place at the time, this is a masterly successor to the award-winning "The Soldier's Return" and "A Son Of War".

About the Author :
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, On Giants' Shoulders, and most recently, The Adventure of English, based on the Granada TV 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.

Review :
'I was bowled over by it ! an enormously important piece of literature about post-war Britain.' -- A.C. Grayling, Guardian 'Enthralling, a joy to read ... immensely satisfying, written with honesty and imagination ... [it] enriches the reader's life.' -- Allan Massie, Scotsman 'Bragg brilliantly conveys Joe's youthful idealism and the ultimate dislocation from family and community that will be experienced by the working-class lad (or lass) who manages to win a university education ! I, frankly, can't wait to read what happens next.' -- Val Hennessy, Daily Mail 'An expertly told tale which is satisfying in its own right and as a continuation of a monumental series.' -- Frank Egerton, The Times 'Richly detailed and extraordinarily poignant ! Melvyn Bragg is slowly cementing his place among the aristocrats of English fiction.' -- David Robson, Sunday Telegraph 'Sharp yet tender, it is an astonishingly confident, slowly unreeled account' -- Rosemary Goring, Glasgow Herald