REMEMBER ME
Melvyn Bragg (Sceptre, £17.99)
Oxford looms large in the latest episode in Bragg's loosely autobiographical saga. The story started with Sam returning from fighting in the Second World War to his Cumbrian wife Ellen and their young son Joe, whom he had hardly seen since he was a baby.
In this book, Joe begins to shrug off his working-class background when he takes up his Oxford scholarship from grammar school, but is on the rebound after splitting with his adolescent sweetheart Rachel. He finds Natasha, who is also recovering from a broken romance, but whose problems seem deeper and more intractable than Joe's. Bragg's style is straightforward, and we know almost from the beginning how their story will end. For readers who are used to the creative writing school of literary fiction, the writing sometimes seems so pedestrian as to be lumbering - no clever tricks here. Yet somehow, Bragg manages to delve deep into universal themes and give them a fresh feel.
Melvyn Bragg will be at the Oxford Literary Festival on Saturday, April 5.
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