Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #77237 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Observer
'The best thing he has ever written'

Observer
'The best thing he has ever written'

Synopsis
On the hottest day of the summer of 1934, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her is Robbie Turner, her childhood friend who, like Cecilia, has recently come down from Cambridge. By the end of that day, the lives of all three will have been changed for ever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had not even imagined at its start, and will have become victims of the younger girl's imagination. Briony will have witnessed mysteries, and committed a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.

Customer Reviews

His best yet?
Ok I am a big Ian McEwen fan, but whilst I may be bias I rate this as one of the top ten book written by a British author in the last twenty years.

The story is one of family conflict and deceit. The story delves into the lives of a family and close friends who one evening are bought together when a incident occurs which is covered up. Someone has to shoulder the blame and the story revolves around the consequences of the cover up and the wrongful accusation of a young family friend and how that affects not just his life but those of the family.

The story spans a period of 60 years or so but the plot entwines through the years, to climax at the very end.

I was shocked by some of the prose, especially the description of the mayhem on the roads to Dunkirk and the horrors of war, but I was greatly moved by the book and recommend it highly.

Wonderful!
The book is superbely written and the plot very cleverly structured. And everything is held together by all-timers: love, separation, war, betrayal, death. And atonement, of course. Read it.

Must disagree with those who don't like it
Atonement is the best book I have ever read, besides maybe "Rebecca" by Daphne Du Maurier. I identified with Briony from the word go and McEwan's characterisation of her was brilliant. I read this book twice and on the second read I saw so many more layers to it, so I chose to write my 3000 word English A level coursework on it. Believe me, I could have written a hell of a lot more than 3000 words!

The first few pages were not that easy to get into, but I have to disagree with the reviewer who said McEwan is not a writer. He is a brilliant writer of the highest calibre and his skill with language is pure art. He is very precise in his descriptions and his characters' motivations, you can't help but understand them. Definitely worth the read.