This is a novel about the hundreds of tiny connections that permeate society, connect the worlds of individuals and define us all. This is a novel about guilt and innocence and how we live in a time when there are no more innocents left. This is a novel about the last great battle between politics and comedy, and we can only hope that comedy wins. This is a novel about how easy it is to make fools of us all. This is a new novel by Jonathan Coe, who is the best at showing the world we live in in its true light. One day, little Rachel was visiting her grandmother and saw a strange Bird Woman. And on my next visit I found an ominous thing in the forest. And then Rachel grew up and became an adult. And she began to meet much stranger people and stumble upon much more sinister things. An ordinary girl found herself in the very center of a web. But webs of what? And whose web?..An attractive, mysterious, smart, mercilessly mocking new novel, without a doubt, by one of the most modern writers. "Number 11" grew out of two beloved novels by Jonathan Coe - "Houses of Sleep" and "What a Scam!"