Jerusalem

Patrick Neate

The new novel from the author of Twelve Bar Blues, Whitbread Novel of the Year 2001

In the first year of the twentieth century, a young Englishman returns home from the Boer War. Disillusioned with Empire and fearful for the soul of Albion, he sets out on a pilgrimage into the West Country, determined to identify the key elements of the English character that they may be for ever preserved.

In the present day, a young London entrepreneur, owner of the 'cultural consultancy' Authenticity?, defines his contemporaries through their consumer choices with bewildering accuracy, and makes a fortune in the process. So why's he so dissatisfied? His father, meanwhile, a junior minister in a failing government, is sent to Africa to deal with the latest president to fall victim to 'African Leadership Syndrome'. Somewhat foolishly, he is already looking forward to a hero's welcome on his return.

As politically astute as it is funny, Jerusalem is a loving portrait of Englishness as it never was, isn't now and, hopefully, never will be.

Praise for City of Tiny Lights:

'Cool, slick and funny' Independent

'A rare treat in a thriller . . . demands at least one sequel'
Daily Express

'Funny and inventive' New Statesman

Patrick Neate is the author of four previous novels: Musungu Jim and the Great Chief Tuloko, which won a Betty Trask Award, Twelve Bar Blues, which won the 2001 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award, The London Pigeon Wars, and City of Tiny Lights. His non-fiction includes Where You're At, which won the NBCC Award for Criticism in the USA. He is a Londoner.