The story picks up in the late 1990s, with Benjamin, in his mid-40s, struggling in his marriage and working on a massive unpublished novel. He meets a younger woman named Malvina and falls in love with her. Other characters from The Rotters' Club, like Doug and Philip Chase, also reappear as adults.
Coe weaves in many real-world events and cultural references from the early 2000s, including the Millennium, 9/11, the Iraq War, and the rise of far-right politics in Britain. However, some reviewers felt the novel relied too heavily on chance encounters and coincidences to bring the characters back together in a "closed circle."

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