Atonement: Discover the modern classic that has sold over two million copies.

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 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.

Ian McEwan is the critically acclaimed author of seventeen books. 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; Saturday; On Chesil Beach; Solar; Sweet Tooth; The Children Act; and Nutshell, which was a Number One bestseller. Atonement and Enduring Love have both been turned into award-winning films, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach are in production and set for release this year, and filming is currently underway for a BBC TV adaptation of The Child in Time.

He is this country's unrivalled literary giant...a fascinatingly strange, unique and gripping novel * Independent on Sunday * Ian McEwan's highly-charged story of sin and forgiveness is masterfully told. Tense, shocking and heart-breaking in equal turn. * Grazia * Atonement is a masterpiece...it is also an elegy to a time which, however volatile, still had certainties * The Times * A beautiful and majestic fictional panorama A deft and brilliant exploration of guilt, family and the rippling repercussions of a single moment in life * Red * A superb achievement * New York Times * A magnificent novel * Independent * The best thing he has ever written * Observer * McEwan's best novel so far, his masterpiece * Evening Standard * Subtle as well as powerful, adeptly encompassing comedy as well as atrocity, Atonement is a richly intricate book... A superb achievement * Sunday Times * An evocative depiction of the dangers of innocence and ignorance in the face of uncomfortable reality. * Herald * Brilliantly explores the currents of guilt, shame and anger... Utterly satisfying, complete * Scotsman * A complex, thought-provoking novel. * Woman and Home * Smoulders with slow-burning menace * The Times * Just brilliant, particularly for the clever, poignant final chapter. I loved the shattering, satisfying twist * Red * I love being transported to a different era and this masterly novel succeeds at every level * Daily Express * This is a rare creature - a heartbreaker with genuine heart. Wonderful * Herald * One of the great unrequited love stories * Eve Magazine * An astonishing narrative... a novel that stick with you long after you finish it * Week * Simply stunning from beginning to end, this tense, evocative, beautifully-drawn novel transported me back to the 1930s and 40s, swept me away - and broke my heart too. * . *