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1985: A neighbourhood prepares a barbecue to watch the biggest music event in history: Live Aid.
1985: A neighbourhood prepares a barbecue to watch the biggest music event in history: Live Aid.
It’s the summer of 1985 and the residents of Delmont Close are preparing a neighbourhood barbecue to watch the biggest music event in history: Live Aid. A day like no other that will end having reached millions and changing the lives of all who attend.
House-proud Lydia Gordon, whose idols are Princess Di and Delia Smith, is determined to put on a show that will impress everyone – with her posh garden and state-of-the-art television, and her sweet husband and two children, Hanna and David.
But as the guests flood into number nine, so do all of the secrets that have been kept in the close.
Rita, a new neighbour from Australia, is hoping for a fresh start but harbours a shocking event in her past; Steve, a young Falklands veteran, battles his own demons; and Mr Wilson is surely too good-looking to ever be trusted.
But as the hours count down to the last performance of the night, it’s Lydia who faces the heart-breaking truth that her immaculate home and flawless family might not be so perfect after all.
And if each of their neighbours is guilty of hiding something, so are the Gordons at number nine …
Fictional setting
The novel The Barbecue at No. 9 by Jennie Godfrey is set in Delmont Close, a fictional cul-de-sac, in the summer of 1985.
The story is set around the Live Aid concert. The exact town or region in the UK is not specified in the book but the author was raised in West Yorkshire and there is local flavour in the book so this is on the map above. And there IS an actual Delmont Close although this is entirely coincidental.
Destination/location: Yorkshire, England Author/guide: Jennie Godfrey Departure Time: 1985
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