Product Description

In the relentless summer heat, four abruptly orphaned children retreat into a shadowy, isolated world, and find their own strange and unsettling ways of fending for themselves…

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5501 in Books
• Published on: 1997-06-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

The Times
‘Darkly impressive’

Observer
‘An extremely assured, technically adept and compelling piece of work’

Sunday Times
'It is difficult to fault the writing or the construction of this eerie fable’

Customer Reviews

Brilliant but Depressing
Ian McEwan is a wonderfully gifted writer and in this, his first novel, he displays his talent. He tells the story of a group of dysfuntional children surviving after the death of their parents. He certainly gets inside the head of Jack, the 15 year old protagonist, with all his doubts, selfishness and youthful insecurities. The writing is very skillful but it is never inspiring, entertaining or enjoyable. It is depressing, sinister and morbid. Although this book is well written I much preferred his other novels such as Atonement or Saturday.

Ewwww.... yucky. In a good way.
One thing you can rely on with Mr McEwan is that you get something different every time. It's hard to believe this book is by the same person who wrote A Child in Time, Black Dogs and - especially - Atonement.

The claustrophobic atmosphere of a filthy house in the middle of an unbearably hot summer is almost tangible throughout this book. Sometimes I could feel the sticky kitchen floor and smell the rotten food in the fridge. And as for our three key players, the children of this revolting home, they are the most unlikeable, weird bunch you could imagine. A little bit Lord of the Flies, a little bit Wasp Factory, this is not a chocolate box image of childhood, but a relentless dig at the underbelly of a very, very dysfunctional family. Like picking at a scab, you can't leave it alone until you know just to what depths these twighlight zone characters will plunge.

The point is well made. When kids grow up without love or affection, like flowers in a concrete garden, their natural inclination to love, family and bonding can get wildly out of kilter.

Not a pleasant read. But a good one.

Not that great
I bought this book following all the great reviews. As someone who runs a project looking after orphans, some who live alone, I thought it would be an interesting read. However I found the characters & setting unbelievable and difficult to relate to. There was little exploration of the children's feelings about their parents' deaths and it seemed more centred around their sexual awakening. The climax at the end was predictable. I won't be recommending this to my friends!