num_pages: 275
description: Booker Prize Finalist "Wickedly funny." -- The New York Times Imagine an England where all the pubs are quaint,  where the Windsors behave themselves (mostly), where the cliffs of Dover are actually white, and where Robin Hood and his merry men really are merry.  This is precisely what visionary tycoon, Sir Jack Pitman, seeks to accomplish on the Isle of Wight, a "destination" where tourists can find replicas of Big Ben (half size), Princess Di's grave, and even Harrod's (conveniently located inside the tower of London). Martha Cochrane, hired as one of  Sir Jack's resident "no-people," ably assists him in realizing his dream.  But when this land of make-believe gradually gets horribly and hilariously out of hand, Martha develops her own vision of the perfect England.  Julian Barnes delights us with a novel that is at once a philosophical inquiry, a burst of mischief, and a moving elegy about authenticity and nationality.
language: English
title: England, England: Open Market Edition
titlecomplete: England, England: Open Market Edition
genres: British Literature, Unfinished, College, Humor, Novels, 20th Century, Literature, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Fiction
ratings_count: 5885
places: Isle of Wight, England
awards: awardedAt: 883641600000
name: Booker Prize
publisher: Vintage Books