Metroland

A stunning special edition of Julian Barnes's first novel with a new introduction from the author and eye-opening unseen archive materialA special edition of Julian Barnes's first novel with an introduction from the author and previously unseen archive material.Christopher and Toni found in each other the perfect companion for that universal adolescent pastime- smirking at the world as you find it. In between training as flaneurs and the grind of school, they cast a cynical eye over their various dislikes- parents with their lives of spotless emptiness, Third Division (North) football teams, God, commuters and girls, and the inhabitants of Metroland- the strip of suburban dormitory Christopher calls home.Longing for real life to begin, Christopher makes for Paris in time for les evenements of 1968, only to miss it all in a haze of sex, French theatre and first love. And before long he finds himself drawn inevitably back to Metroland and the very life he was trying to escape...This special edition contains unseen archive material including letters from early fans such as Philip Larkin and Dodie Smith, contemporary reviews, a deleted scene from the original manuscript as well as an introduction from the author.

“"If all works of fiction were as thoughtful, as subtle, as well constructed and as funny as Metroland there would be no more talk of the death of the novel." -- New Statesman "It's one of the best accounts of clever English schoolboyhood I've read." -- Times Educational Supplement”

I was captivated from the first page. I cannot remember when I enjoyed a first novel more -- Nina Bawden Daily Telegraph
If all works of fiction were as thoughtful, as subtle, as well constructed, and as funny as Metroland there would be no more talk of the death of the novel New Statesman
A rare and unusual first novel -- William Boyd London Magazine
A very funny, touching first novel. It has a hard comic edge to it that is logical and at the same time extremely diverting Spectator
One would have to look very hard to find a wryer, more lovingly detailed account of intellectual and sexual innocence abroad -- Jay Parini New York Times

Julian Barnes is the author of thirteen novels, including The Sense of an Ending, which won the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, and Sunday Times bestsellers The Noise of Time and The Only Story. He has also written three books of short stories, four collections of essays and three books of non-fiction, including the Sunday Times number one bestseller Levels of Life and Nothing To Be Frightened Of, which won the 2021 Yasnaya Polyana Prize in Russia. In 2017 he was awarded the Legion d'honneur.

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