Miles Platting is the founder of Lingua Franca, a company which pairs up cash-strapped town councils which agree to change the name of their town in return for commercial sponsorship money. After an accident he wakes up in a hospital where no-one speaks, only writes notes.

It must have sounded intriguing at some point but I do not remember how this ended up on my TBR list. I suppose the idea is amusing but I found the story unconvincing and generally rather meh. ( )

3.5 stars.

A fun premise: Miles Platting has founded a company that finds corporate sponsorships for towns that have fallen on hard times. Some people, including his ex-wife, Kendal, with whom he would dearly like to be reunited, see this as a crass affront to tradition, to history, and to language itself.

I didn't really understand the criticism of Lingua Franca as destroying language, and I think I would have had more fun if I were familiar with the English towns (and corporate brands) mentioned throughout. Still, this was a pretty upbeat, slightly absurd, but ultimately fairly serious reflection on the nature of language and the power of naming.

I received a copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. ( )

An excellent read! I found the concept unpleasant - towns being renamed to brand names in exchange for sponsorship and hoped-for regeneration. At the start of the book, you share the confusion of Miles, the ex-teacher who created Lingua Franca, the company responsible for selling the renaming rights of towns who has been in an accident and awakes to find nurses who won't talk; the reason behind this gradually becomes clear and is even worse than the renaming, in my opinion.

I won't say much more as I don't want to risk any spoilers but I found the silence claustrophobic and felt a strong urge to talk to someone, anyone, whilst reading certain parts of the book!

A compelling read, by an author who clearly has a love of the English language, I haven't read Thacker's first novel but, after reading this second novel, I will have to get hold of a copy. ( )