'There is no one quite like Bunting in her combination of delicate, touching observation and memoir, and penetrating, clear-sighted analysis, here brought to bear on Britain's coastline, adored, romanticised – and so often politically abandoned.'
Charlotte Higgins
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'Tender but tough.. a fascinating barometer of the state of the nation.'
Travis Elborough
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The Seaside, England’s Love Affair is an exploration of the extraordinary history of the country’s great seaside resorts. Travelling clockwise around the country from Scarborough to Morecambe, Bunting visits over 40 resorts during two years of research to tell the story of their fabulous rise, heyday and current struggle to reinvent themselves. These are places deep in England’s imagination repeatedly attracting artists, filmmakers and writers, and yet they include the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country with shocking inequalities of life expectancy and ill health. These seaside resorts have helped define a nation and now starkly reveal its character and priorities; they represent a paradox of deep nostalgic affection and political neglect.
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The Seaside, England's Love Affair
by Madeleine Bunting is published by Granta on
May 4th 2023