Product Description

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 hosue. 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1572 in Books
• Published on: 2002-05-02
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Atonement is Ian McEwan's ninth novel and his first since the Booker Prize-winning Amsterdam in 1998. But whereas Amsterdam was a slim, sleek piece, Atonement is a more sturdy, ambitious work, allowing McEwan more room to play, think and experiment.

We meet 13-year-old Briony Tallis in the summer of 1935, as she attempts to stage a production of her new drama The Trials of Arabella to welcome home her elder, idolised brother Leon. But she soon discovers that her cousins, the glamorous Lola and the twin boys Jackson and Pierrot, aren't up to the task, and directorial ambitions are abandoned as more interesting preoccupations come onto the scene. The charlady's son Robbie Turner appears to be forcing Briony's sister Cecilia to strip in the Fountain and sends her obscene letters; Leon has brought home a dim chocolate magnate keen for a war to promote his new "Army Amo" bar; and upstairs Briony's migraine-stricken mother Emily keeps tabs on the house from her bed. Soon, secrets emerge that change the lives of everyone present...

The interwar upper-middle-class setting of the book's long, masterfully sustained opening section might recall Virginia Woolf or Henry Green, but as we move forward--eventually to the turn of the 21st century--the novel's central concerns emerge, and McEwan's voice becomes clear, even personal. For at heart, Atonement is about the pleasures, pains and dangers of writing, and perhaps even more, about the challenge of controlling what readers make of your writing. McEwan shouldn't have any doubts about readers of Atonement: this is a thoughtful, provocative and at times moving book that will have readers applauding.--Alan Stewart

Observer
`The best thing he has ever written'

Independent
`Atonement is a magnificent novel, shaped and paced with awesome confidence and eloquence'

Customer Reviews

Words can't do it justice
This is simply what is called a masterpiece. A word too often used and not often enough deserved.The writing is incredible, so good that you could weep that some people have the talent to create such prose and you don't. At least you can read it which is a blessing indeed.
It is the story of a young girl, too clever by half, somewhat arrogant and presumptuous who misreads a situation, sees too much, understands too little and will ruin three lives, her sister's, that of the young man her sister is in love with, and her own as she has to live with the consequences of her act of betrayal.

Perfection
A very short review simply because you should read the book for yourself - it will not disappoint. Beautifully written, beautiful plot, beautiful characters. McEwan is genius!

Much ado about not much
This was the first novel by McEwan that I read. My wife bought it before the film was released and I approached reading it with expectation of a good read from a respected author.

The first part in the country house set the scene well I thought. Did wonder why the note was 'obscene'. Would Robbie really have written this in this way? The same effect could have been achieved with a gentler touch and Briony's actions would have been all the more tragic. It seemed that McEwan had a plot worked out but lacked the skill to piece the story together. For me the second part had all the technique of a school essay (c+). I finished it, otherwise it would only have rated 1*, but wondered why this is rated so highly. Also watched the film which also felt like a chore.

Will not try McEwan again in a hurry.