An excellent film but the beauty of the book is in its writing for McEwan is indeed one of our country’s literary giants.  Get lost in his words, the hypocrisy of the upper-class world and then the shattering atrocities of war, right through to its very clever ending.

Comparison: John Lanchester, Kazuo Ishiguro, Andrew Greig
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Synopsis

On the hottest day of summer in 1934, Briony Tallis sees her older sister Cecilia strip off and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her is her childhood friend, Robbie Turner. By the end of that day, the lives of all three will have changed forever: Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed an unimagined boundary, and Briony will have committed a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.

Reviews

‘A magnificent novel, shaped and paced with awesome confidence and eloquence’ Independent

'Subtle as well as powerful, adeptly encompassing comedy as well as atrocity, Atonement is
a richly intricate book- A superb achievement which combines a magnificent display of the
powers of the imagination with a probing exploration of them' - Sunday Times

'He is this country's unrivalled literary giant...a fascinatingly strange, unique and gripping
novel' - Independent on Sunday

About the Author

Ian McEwan is a critically acclaimed author of short stories and novels for adults, as well as The Daydreamer, a children's novel illustrated by Anthony Browne. His first published work, a collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites, won the Somerset Maugham Award. His novels include The Child in Time, which won the 1987 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award, The Cement Garden, Enduring Love, Amsterdam, which won the 1998 Booker Prize, Atonement and Saturday. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation