Written in clear, jargon-free prose, this introductory text charts the variety of novel writing in English in the second half of the twentieth century. The book presents an engaging introduction to the English-language novel from 1950-2000 (exclusive of the US); provides students both with strategies for interpretation and with fresh readings of selected seminal texts; maps out the most important contexts and concepts for understanding this fiction; and, features readings of ten influential English-language novels including Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale , Kazuo Ishiguro’s Remains of the Day and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart .