Joseph Tallantire has hope and ambition – like his father before him he is determined to make something of himself and improve his lot.
Melvyn Bragg
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
Alongside his career in television and radio, Bragg has been a prolific author, writing some 22 novels and 17 works of non-fiction. His high public profile has not always led him to receive proper – or fair – recognition for his novels. The Booker Prize 2001 judges, however, found in the novel a subtle and moving portrayal of a soldier returned to Cumbria to the family and working-class life from which war had offered an escape. Bragg’s portrayal of the difficulties of all his characters was notable for its lack of sentimentality.
All nominated books
Melvyn Bragg’s sequel to The Soldier’s Return. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the lives of the Richardson family have changed forever
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
Features
- Long read
- Book recommendations
