When We Were Rich

By: Tim Lott

Narrated by: Jamie Parker

Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

The brilliant new novel from the author of The Last Summer of the Water Strider.

Millennium Eve and six people gather on a London rooftop. Recently married, Frankie Blue watches with his wife, Veronica, as the sky above the Thames explodes into a kaleidoscope of light. His childhood companion, Colin, ineptly flirts with Roxy, an unlikely first date, while another old friend, Nodge, newly ‘out’, hides his insecurities from his waspish boyfriend.

New Labour are at their zenith. The economy booms, awash with cheap credit. The arrival of the smartphone heralds the sudden and vast expansion of social media. Mass immigration from Eastern Europe leave many unsettled while religious extremism threatens violent conflict.

An estate agent in a property boom, Frankie is focused simply on getting rich. But can he survive the coming crash? And what will become of his friends—and his marriage—as they are scoured by the winds of change?

When We Were Rich finds the characters introduced in Tim Lott's award-winning 1999 debut, White City Blue, struggling to make sense of a new era. Sad, shocking and often hilarious, it is an acutely observed novel of all our lives, set during what was for some a golden time—and for others a nightmare, from which we are yet to wake up.

©2019 Tim Lott (P)2019 Simon & Schuster, UK

Critic reviews

"A sharp and very funny portrait of a brash era which is also a surprisingly tender take on flawed masculinity." (Sarah Hughes, i paper)

"What a terrific novel—wickedly sharp, wildly entertaining—I was gripped from start to finish. With its twisty plots and interwoven characters it paints a vivid portrait of a crucial decade. It's laugh-out-loud funny, too. And with property porn thrown in, what's not to like." (Deborah Moggach)

"Wickedly funny and deeply humane. I loved this book." (Sadie Jones)