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Original poster

1980s setting

44 replies

Auntlinny · 12/04/2013 22:21

What I said in the title really. Can anyone think of a good read with an eighties setting?

OP posts:
revolvenotevolve · 14/04/2013 13:11

what was lost by Catherine oflynn

joanofarchitrave · 13/04/2013 21:59

I'd rushed back here to say 'what a carve up' but am not surprised that lots of people got there first!

QueenofWhatever · 13/04/2013 21:19

'Once In A House On Fire' by Andrea Ashworth is an incredible read. Highly recommended.

Also another vote for The Northern Clemency, part of it takes place during the miners' strike.

nettie · 13/04/2013 21:10

'Never Let Me Go' has a late seventies, early eighties feel to it.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 13/04/2013 20:24

I think Willy Russell's, 'The Wrong Boy'might be set in the early 90s but it still has an eighties 'feel' iirc.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 13/04/2013 20:22

Just Googled this and,'Let The Right One In' is set in the 80s - tis a Swedish vampire novel and is pretty good but don't read anything else by him because his others are rubbish.

marissab · 13/04/2013 20:17

Am loving these suggestions. Love adrian mole! I was gonna suggest american psycho. Gets really into eighties yuppy lifestyle but you need a strong stomach. By far the most disturbing, Torture book i've ever read. Extreme sexual violence. It's good though. I've read it twice Grin

MilanToMinsk · 13/04/2013 12:16

And a more recent on set in the 1980s -
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (sp?)

MilanToMinsk · 13/04/2013 12:13

Was going to suggest Bonfire of the Vanities too - Tom Wolfe.
Also David Lodge - late 1970s/early 1980s.

Shanghaidiva · 13/04/2013 12:07

Also The Rotters Club by Coe
Northern Clemency by Hensher - starts in the 1970s I think

EggsEggSplat · 13/04/2013 11:45

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell is set in 1982.

Or why not go back to that classic of the time, The Secret Dary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 and three-quarters? Full of period detail...

Francagoestohollywood · 13/04/2013 11:37

Oh yes, how could I forget about What a carve up??? It's brillinat!

highlandcoo · 12/04/2013 23:28

What A Carve Up! by Jonathan Coe is brilliant, especially if you like intelligent political commentary which is also very funny.

Francagoestohollywood · 12/04/2013 22:36

Margaret Drabble The Radiant Way

Francagoestohollywood · 12/04/2013 22:35

Jay McInerney Bright Lights Big City

And Brett Easton Ellis Americn Psyco are the first that spring to mind

joanofarchitrave · 12/04/2013 22:33

i've always understood bonfire of the vanities to be the ultimate 80s novel but haven't read it.

joanofarchitrave · 12/04/2013 22:31

Starter for 10 is quite fun.

MrsLettuce · 12/04/2013 22:26

Yes, (Britain) in the early to mid-1980s. Really enjoyed it.

MrsLettuce · 12/04/2013 22:26

The Line of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst - is set in the 80's I think.