What's in a date? - July 1956

My short audio on the significance of the date, July 1956, at the beginning of The Remains of the Day.

What's in a date? Just a marker of time, a setting of the period? In one sense, yes, of course. But what else could be at play here?

In the case of The Remains of the Day, if we take a take a slightly more philosophical approach and consider what else July 1956 might mean, we begin to open up threads that connect this simple story of a butler to wider questions of history and national identity.

So in a book about a butler - a classic symbol of mid-20th century Britishness - what significance does July 1956 have?

#literature #TheRemainsoftheDay #fiction #novels