First published 2016
Christopher Lloyd dreams of Paris and bohemian life from his safe, suffocating northwest London suburb. When his schoolmate Toni introduces him to radical politics and sexual awakening, Christopher begins plotting his escape from middle-class conformity. He experiments with revolutionary rhetoric and sexual rebellion, eventually moving to Paris to live out his adolescent fantasies. But adulthood arrives with unexpected complications. Christopher's idealistic worldview gradually fractures against the hard surfaces of actual experience. Marriage, work, and compromise slowly dismantle his youthful revolutionary dreams. As he navigates the transition from teenage rebellion to adult compromise, Christopher must reconcile his romantic imagination with the mundane realities of contemporary life. Barnes tracks one man's journey from adolescent certainty to nuanced self-understanding, capturing the delicate moments when idealism encounters lived experience.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, 20th-century, coming-of-age, contemporary, adult-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, idealism-vs-reality
Setting: London, Paris
Period: 20th Century
240 pages · Paperback · Vintage