Left-wing liberal Cecily Hayes feels passionately that Brexit is laying siege to the England she loves. With this in mind, she embarks upon a literary quest, from John Foxe, through Milton, Defoe, Wollstonecraft and Blake, to discover what exactly it is, this 'England' of her heart. Quite contrary to this, Cecily’s friend Diana hopes, conversely, that Brexit can save her England from cultural extinction.
In the mix are also Cecily’s German-Togolese husband, Florian, who is consumed by the fallacies of neoliberalism in the Americas, and her bumptious public-school educated nephew, who hero-worships Jacob Rees-Mogg. Last-but-not-least there is Cecily’s jolly financial-adviser brother-in-law and her wealthy sister, Victoria, whose secret plans for the family house could – if Cecily only knew – turn her whole world upside-down.
Within that house, as the holiday progresses and struggles at home mirror the struggles in government, unravels a story of Brexit England: a world of confusion and delusion, fury and betrayal.
After completing her history MA, Julia spent thirteen years living and working in Poland, before returning to the UK with her English-Polish family in 2013. This is her debut.