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Meeting the English

Kate Clanchy (Goodreads Author)

3.38 · Rating details · 623 ratings · 97 reviews

Literary Giant seeks young man to push bathchair. Own room in Hampstead, all found, exciting cultural milieu. Modest wage. Ideal 'gap year' opportunity. Apply Prys Box 4224XXC. 'It's only England,' said Mr Fox, 'just a few hours on the train. You can always come home.'

'Ah've never been though,' said Struan, 'never been South.'

'Then you should,' said Mr Fox, 'you really s

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Hardcover, 320 pages

Published March 3rd 2015 by Thomas Dunne Books (first published April 25th 2013)

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· 623 ratings · 97 reviews

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Nov 18, 2015 Margitte rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: british-author, british-novels, reviewed, family-sagas, relationships, 2015-read, fiction

I'm not sure how far this novel will go, but for the right audience it might be a good read. The author developed the characters well. I just could not stomach the tedious, incredibly boring pace of the story.

It was not for me. ...more

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Jun 11, 2013 Antonomasia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, modern-british-fiction, decade-2010s

A nice summery, cartoonishly typical English novel. I'm almost surprised they still make them like this... Although very few characters are English, as this book wants to show that we are a mongrel race and that Englishness is often a mixture of learned mannerisms and assimilation. Especially Englishness as perceived by outsiders such as a geeky Scottish school-leaver going south of the border in 1989 for a gap year working as a carer. It is he who is 'meeting the English' for the first time, ch A nice summery, cartoonishly typical English novel. I'm almost surprised they still make them like this... Although very few characters are English, as this book wants to show that we are a mongrel race and that Englishness is often a mixture of learned mannerisms and assimilation. Especially Englishness as perceived by outsiders such as a geeky Scottish school-leaver going south of the border in 1989 for a gap year working as a carer. It is he who is 'meeting the English' for the first time, characters like the tweedy gay Dutch-Jewish literary agent, and the Welsh Angry Young Man of the 50s and 60s, now firmly ensconced in the Hampstead literary establishment and lately incapacitated by a stroke. Similarly, the truism that most people in London aren't actually from London.

Clanchy is a published poet but this isn't an efflorescent poetic novel; according to the bio 'she has also written extensively for Radio 4', and that's where this fits in: a cosy yet not quite cloying sort of story which is a bit funny and a bit moving but not too much of either, very much the sort of thing that wouldn't get any complaints on the Home Service.

I could have ended up giving this 4 stars, and regarding it as a guilty pleasure in the way that I only seem to with books. (In films and music I've no truck with the idea). One side would call it pretentious and elitist, the other middlebrow, bland and predictable. I like a certain amount of this sort of thing but when it's the sort of thing heavily promoted by the papers yet often criticised by intelligent friends and members of the public, then there's next to no sense of individuality or connection or rebellion in enjoying it.
Or I thought I enjoyed it; reading all this new fiction recently I've found a lot more of it wanting than I expected to.

I was quite prepared to forgive the cliché of yet another Hampstead tale if it was fun, but there were too many niggly little faults for me to rate Meeting the English any higher than 3. Things like choosing the production date of a fictitious British New Wave film as 1969. The peculiar choice of surname spelling: Prys (Phillip is not a man who ever suited associations like prissy or fleur-de-lys) instead of Pryce or Price - and then its use by a proud Welshman to suffix fictional placenames that should end '[pr]ydd'. I think politics and linguistics would trump this particular vehicle for his egotism. Then there are the narrative's uneven assumptions about the reader's knowledge: for instance that they would know 'Laura' means Ashley (I confess my brain automatically filled it in in context before I realised the word wasn't there) yet shortly afterwards, although we're now in the thoughts of a Scottish character, we must be told that Princes Street is in Edinburgh.

I loved Phillip's opening rant about Salman Rushdie (which cantankerously made a good point that in current British publishing, ethnic diversity among writers from privileged backgrounds makes it easy for remaining class and regional divisions to be ignored). Then the plot almost silenced the most entertaining character. His actress-turned-property-developer ex-wife Myfanwy is at least fairly ridiculous. But too many of the comic scenes needed to be dialled up a bit (Why aren't comic novels as funny as they used to be? Someone who knows more about this should write an article) and others with potential were too bland. I suppose I'd been hoping for a grown-up version of Helen Cresswell's Bagthorpe Saga...

And then there's the way the narrative talks about 1989. Sometimes those paragraphs are written as if they're aimed at 20-year-olds with low general knowledge, though most of the readership of a book like this would probably remember the year. These sepia factoids sometimes triggered nostalgia, but by making everything seem longer ago than it was, the feeling was more often a queasy sadness. I'm sure you don't need me to repeat The Smiths' line. From the news, it did seem in 1989 that the future was going to be bright and amazing...The echoes lasted for a long time: until 2001.

A nice but fairly unremarkable book which passes the time well enough; probably as ephemeral as the Aztec Camera poster on the teenage son's bedroom wall. ...more

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Nov 17, 2014 Rebecca rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-for-nudge

Poet Kate Clanchy was born in Glasgow but lives in London. Now – in the wake of September’s historic Scottish independence vote – seems a good time to revisit her debut novel, with its theme of an inexperienced Scottish teenager travelling down to England to take up a new post as nurse to a literary lion.

Are Scotland and England really that different? Seventeen-year-old Struan Robertson seems to think so. London in the late 1980s feels like an utterly foreign place to him. Clanchy shifts natural ...more

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Jan 13, 2015 Esil rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an opportunity to read a copy of Meeting the English. This book was a lovely surprise. I knew nothing about Clanchy or her book when I requested it from Netgalley, but the story sounded interesting. It turns out that it was published in the last year or so in the UK and I gather will be published shortly in North America. Set in the late 1980s, Meeting the English depicts an 18 year old boy -- Struan -- who moves from a small town in Scotland to look ...more

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Sep 21, 2014 Renita D'Silva rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I adored this book. A tongue-in-cheek, satirical account of lives privileged and not, told through the eyes of a green young man from Cuik, a bright young girl who strives to be thin, and her grasping mother, among others. This is a brilliant book, a study of England as it was in the year 1989, a wry, crisp account of the times.

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Apr 17, 2018 Leif rated it liked it

Meeting the English is not, and never claims to be, a full-scale sociological study of the British cultural fusion of London. And yet. The dynamic, perhaps distended, certainly widely distributed set of individuals who the novel collects as "the English" - viewed through a young Scottish man's eyes - certainly stand as quasi-representational figures of the imaginary English nation. And honestly, from my reading anyway, while this is certainly a symbolic vehicle for discussions, it limits the nov Meeting the English is not, and never claims to be, a full-scale sociological study of the British cultural fusion of London. And yet. The dynamic, perhaps distended, certainly widely distributed set of individuals who the novel collects as "the English" - viewed through a young Scottish man's eyes - certainly stand as quasi-representational figures of the imaginary English nation. And honestly, from my reading anyway, while this is certainly a symbolic vehicle for discussions, it limits the novel's development as much as it lends it a certain coherence. The differences between characters were simply too schematic and rendered them stocky, almost pre-determined. For the strength of this book is in its disavowal of stereotypes and its visionary drive to imagine the possible richness of lively identity within those ostensible types.

Fundamentally, this tries to be a story about the melancholic yet moving interactions between people: through illness and death, through familial fractures, and through international exchange and flows. And it's quite compelling once you relax into it. While the novel began initially to resemble something by, say, Louis de Bernières - inoffensive, patently English but with an international outlook, and skillfully told - to my surprise and delight I also found that Clanchy's book has teeth. Characters are genuinely unsettling; there are darknesses to match the light. Drug use is accepted, not confronted, and questions of sexuality, bodily image, and societal pressures are handled skillfully and with great subtlety. I never felt the urge to abandon Clanchy's hands, but by the end the novel pays back the attention and the time spent with it in spades. My only complaint is a perhaps too-cute narrative decision at the end, but that feels rather petty.

To summarize: this is an enormously capable novel that, without blowing anyone's socks off, is deftly able to examine complexities in contemporary English identities. It's not a perfect novel, nor perhaps even a great novel (whew! the weight of expectations alleviated, it becomes possible for the story to breathe!); instead, it is a very good book indeed. ...more

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Oct 08, 2013 As pequenas e grandes alegrias rated it did not like it · review of another edition

A 17 year old goes to take care of a writer he used to admire and who had a stroke. It should be interesting. It just isn't. I'd expect more in depth of the idyosincrasies of the Scottish/English, of the age difference, of the social class, of anything. It left me waiting all the while, and bored to tears while at it. ...more

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May 07, 2013 Chris Lilly rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: novels, favourites, 21st-century-writers

Beautifully crafted, humane, funny, tender. Such a very, very fine piece of writing.

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Nov 18, 2013 Maya Panika rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Literary Giant seeks young man to push bathchair. Own room in Hampstead, all found, exciting cultural milieu. Modest wage. Ideal 'gap year' opportunity.
This was a surprising novel in many ways: a pleasant, heart-warming read, and not at all what I was expecting, coming as it does from such a famous, multi-award winning poet like Kate Clanchy (Slattern, What Is She Doing Here?: A Refugee's Story). Clanchy's poetry has weight, and this novel is, on the surface, not the least bit weighty or Importa ...more

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Jul 08, 2014 Karen Purcell rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: around-the-world

Picked this up because of the upcoming referendum and it seemed pertinent.

Really well worth reading. Funny, naughty and very evocative of the 80's (my era!). Complex relationships of well drawn characters and a strong story that twists and turns and leaves you thinking and uncertain of what decisions the characters will make next. Not that it is a thriller, its not, it's just a story of a few months in 1989.

But her short story expertise makes this her first novel a spare, precise and enthralling ...more

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May 22, 2015 Gin Jenny (Reading the End) rated it liked it

I pronounce this book PERFECTLY REASONABLE. I might have liked to be fonder of some of the characters, and I might also have liked Struan and Juliet to end up in happier situations than they did, but generally I find this book to be a reasonable representation of what people mean when they say "this is a book." ...more

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Oct 05, 2013 scarlettraces rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, yay-for-libraries

absolutely and beautifully written (one reason for reading novels by poets, especially ones as good as Clanchy). also sly and witty, thereby making it three of my favourite things.

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Oct 04, 2015 Clare O'Beara rated it really liked it

Shelves: british-fiction

The London divorced family at the centre of this dark comedy are met by an Iranian second wife and a young Scots lad.

In 1989 a playwright has a serious stroke and as the months go by his squabbling family brings him home from hospital and engages a caregiver. Each person goes his or her own way and we see them change over the summer. The tale contains acerbic social comment on towns with shut coal mines, European dictators, property prices and growing up, among other aspects.

Praise to the auth ...more

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Mar 07, 2016 eb rated it really liked it

I enjoyed this SO much! The story of a principled, innocent young man from Scotland who moves to London to care for a literary lion who's suffered a stroke, it's witty, humane, and surprising. Clanchy never lapses into cliche. The kindly teacher who encourages Struan turns out to be self-congratulatory and a little creepy; the angry ex-wife has her reasons for fury; the beautiful current wife is cheerfully amoral. I wasn't surprised to learn that Clanchy is a poet—not because there's a lot of ho ...more

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Jun 08, 2020 Kathy Ding rated it really liked it

Pretty sure the cultural differences between Scotland and England were not enough to fill a whole book and really, the differences Clanchy wrote about were purely socioeconomical. Had she written Struan to be a wealthy teenager from the Highlands doing a trip to London or Hampstead, there would have been 200 pages fewer of differences. The main character actually claims that Hampstead was more different from Scotland than Thailand. Give me a break!
The title and the exaggerated cultural divide a ...more

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Feb 14, 2021 Renata rated it did not like it

I thought that the premise of the book was interesting -- a young Scottish lad moves to London during his gap year to take care of an invalid, who happens to be a writer that he admires. For me, the book just didn't deliver on anything. What he encounters is a dysfunctional family. I found it quite boring and I made it to about page 110 when I gave up. I just have too many more interesting books to read, including ones who most likely will have better and more riveting treatments of dysfunctiona ...more

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Aug 16, 2015 Corene rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015-read, 2015-fiction, 2015-book-club-candidates

Charming book, whimsically told, about a young orphan in 1989 who leaves his poverty stricken Scottish village to take a job as caretaker for an acclaimed playwright, left wheel chair bound and mute after a stroke. A cast of characters assemble in and out of the household, each with their own agendas. It all takes place over an unseasonably hot London summer, in a posh Hampstead neighborhood and the famous park, very much giving a Midsummer Night's Dream effect to the novel. ...more

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Feb 24, 2016 Sherry rated it it was ok

Cute. Not especially funny, a little bit sad. Story of a Scottish lad who goes to London to care for a not very nice author after he 'strokes out'.

The lad is brilliant, young and unsophisticated. The family and friends he meets are quite dysfunctional, but thru his actions he sets most of them on the right path.

In the end the old man has another stroke, and everyone moves on.

...more

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Sep 16, 2016 Janet rated it it was ok

I didn't find this 'comedy' particularly funny. Maybe a cultural thing. The characters were pretty unlikeable for the most part, and it seemed like 90% of the 'jokes' were at the expense of overweight girls and women. It all got very tiresome very quickly. Despite all that, I still found the story engaging enough to make this a fairly quick read, so will give it 2 stars instead of 1. ...more

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Apr 08, 2014 Snoakes rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: desmond-elliott-2014

Great characters and a plot that tears along, this is a really good read. Funny in places (not laugh-out-loud but gently amusing), sometimes a little sad (but never too sad), it's an enjoyable story of different worlds meeting. ...more

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Jul 15, 2013 Elisabeth Gifford rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is an excellent read for summer full of humour, magic and a cast of characters that will stay with you for a long time.

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Aug 02, 2013 Sharon Mccann rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

One of those books where you don't want to begin another in case you forget this one. The last third of the book was so moving. ...more

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Aug 25, 2015 Story rated it really liked it

Shelves: art-and-painting, humour, britlit, comedy-of-manners

Enjoyable comedy of manners.

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Feb 10, 2016 Essie Fox rated it really liked it

Thoroughly enjoyed this. A perfectly formed and razor sharp analysis of a summer in Hampstead in 1989.

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Jul 19, 2016 Sam Colloff rated it really liked it

Lovely read. Not actually as light as you'd think, but nicely written, with well rounded characters. Satisfying. ...more

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Feb 19, 2021 Sophie Glazer rated it it was amazing

“This is all about real estate,” my young daughter remarked disdainfully, after I took her to see "Howards End," and of course she was perfectly correct. In the same sense "Pride and Prejudice" is all about real estate—who will inherit Longbourn? Who will become mistress of Netherfield Hall? Of Pemberley? Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey. . . really, so many great novels are all about real estate. Kate Clanchy’s delightful debut novel, "Meeting the English," follows in this great tradition. A lo ...more

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Feb 08, 2019 Therese rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: cultures, historical-fiction, brit-fic

First of all, I have to admit this was a book I almost didn't finish. I really struggled with the first 50 pages or so as the reader is seemingly dumped into a very specific time and place, that being 1989 in Hampstead Heath, England with references to a small town in the lowlands of Scotland as well. As if trying to figure out what the characters were talking about wasn't annoying enough, there were also some pretty awful similes that sounded like the author was trying too hard to think of an o ...more

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Nov 28, 2017 Jane rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, humor

After the intensity of Colm Toibin's book, House of Names,(I'm talking murder of one's child, husband and mother) this was a delightful reprieve. Lots of Englishisms I didn't understand, but it didn't matter...they "suggested" what they meant, and the characters speaking them were absolutely delightful, no matter what state of sobriety they were experiencing. I have already suggested it to several friends who need some cheering up. It belongs on BBC. I wonder if it has already been adapted to th ...more

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Dec 20, 2018 Christina Rochester rated it liked it · review of another edition

In Meeting the English Struan finds himself thrown into a new world. One where his Scottishness must be discarded and he must conform with the English and their theatrics.

I would say that this book is straight down the middle of the road, doesn’t really do much but does give a brilliant insight into English life although I don’t have the words to adequately describe why it does so, it just does.

I am a little disappointed there was nothin between Struan and Juliet though as I think they may have ...more

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Jun 30, 2018 Lara rated it it was ok

Not awful, but a bit sad and depressing. A 17 year old Scottish boy is employed to care for a famous author who has had a debilitating stroke. The author's family does not want to be bothered by helping him and some would prefer that he die. This book is full of dysfunctional characters dependent upon the 17 year old to rectify their behavior. It was not what I was expecting and was a bit off-putting. ...more

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About Kate Clanchy

Kate Clanchy

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Kate Clanchy was educated in Edinburgh and Oxford University. She lived in London's East End for several years, before moving to Buckinghamshire where she now works as a teacher, journalist and freelance writer. Her poetry and seven radio plays have been broadcast by BBC Radio. She is a regular contributor to The Guardian newspaper; her work appeared in The Scotsman, the New Statesman and Poetry R ...more