Anthem

In the spring of 1982, Anglefield Road is a peaceful road in a suburban town north of London; it is a cul de sac with four houses looking out on each other. In the four houses live four families: the Armstrongs, childless, strangely welcoming, are the oldest residents. Next door live the Plimsolls: beautiful, restless Suzy who works with her older husband Matty on the cruise ship Canberra, the only place where she feels wholly alive. Opposite stands the home of the Roaches: Richard, a downtrodden shoe salesman chasing sales targets while his indifferent wife Ellen stares out the window and their son, Mark, awaits trial for manslaughter. One house down live Freddie and Patsy Millen, Freddie out of work, the house for sale, their Anglefield Road dreams dashed. And then Argentina invades an obscure British colony off the South American coast, the Falklands - provoking a national crisis and a patriotic revival. The once resplendent Canberra is requisitioned to ferry the troops who will re-take the islands and put the Great back into Britain. The repercussions for the residents of Anglefield Road will reach far beyond the events of that momentous summer.


Genre: General Fiction