Melvyn Bragg’s historical fiction, which vividly conveys the spirit of the mid-20th century and the profound social changes taking place at the time.

Set in Britain during the 1950s, Crossing the Lines follows the intertwined fates of people crossing boundaries in their lives. As a teenager in the small northern town of Wigton, Joe Richardson falls in love with Rachel, just when her life is about to be uprooted. While his parents, Sam and Ellen, face the frontiers of middle age, Joe finds himself drawn by the intoxicating world outside home, and is swept into situations that seem beyond his control.

Longlisted
The Man Booker Prize 2003
Published by
Sceptre
Publication date
Melvyn Bragg

Melvyn Bragg

About the Author

Melvyn Bragg, the cultural broadcaster and peer, was Booker Prize longlisted for the second time with A Son of War, the second volume in his The Soldier’s Return quartet.
More about Melvyn Bragg

Other nominated books by Melvyn Bragg

A Son of War
A Place in England