Summary of Expo 58
“Expo 58” is a comic Cold War novel and love story, set against the backdrop of the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels – the first since the Second World War and the largest of the century. Despite the tensions of the Cold War, nations from around the globe gathered beneath the futuristic Atomium to celebrate progress and modernity. The novel’s protagonist, Thomas Foley, is a young English civil servant sent to Brussels to manage a replica English pub at the British pavilion. In the Belgian capital, he meets Anneke, a Flemish Expo hostess, and soon finds himself entangled in both a love affair and a web of Cold War espionage.
Reasons to read Expo 58
“Expo 58” is a witty Cold War novel that captures the optimistic spirit of the 1950s, symbolised by the 1958 World’s Fair. The novel combines humour, suspense, romance, and history. Jonathan Coe is one of the most celebrated contemporary English authors, known for his satirical writing style. His best-known works include “The Rotters’ Club” (winner of the 2001 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize) and “Middle England” (winner of both the European Book Prize and the Costa Book Award for Novel in 2019).
Setting: Brussels (Belgium)
Original title: Expo 58
Year of publication: 2013
Nr of pages: 288
