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Atonement
Ian McEwan. Anchor Books: 2003 (paperback). ISBN: 038572179X. 368 pages.
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If you haven't yet tangled with the unstoppable, mind-boggling, jaw-dropping force that is British author Ian McEwan, now is the perfect time to take him on. Just last year McEwan's novel Amsterdam was nominated for (and won) pretty much every major literary award going--but apparently it's no big deal for Mr. McEwan to pop out a truly great novel every fourteen months or so.
This year's contribution is Atonement, one of the most beautiful and frustrating love stories you will ever read, ever. The action begins in 1935, when thirteen-year-old Briony--a precocious aspiring writer who knows much more than most kids of her age, but not enough to know that she's too inexperienced to interpret adult behavior just yet--misinterprets a flirtation between her older sister Cecelia and the gardener's son. Feeling proud of her entry into the adult world of intrigue and passion, Briony commits a terrible crime against her sister and her sister's lover, one that will shatter the former lives, hopes, and expectations of all three. The story continues through the ravages of World War II, as each of the three main characters fight to get back to the one place that he or she belongs. So you've got the perils of family, the mysteries of love, and the agonies of war, all leading to an unexpectedly triumphant ending--what more can you ask for in a great story? Oh, you want good writing? Well, McEwan's gonna blow your socks off on that one, too. As seen on Ellen on Seven.
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