Atonement

It is 1935 and thirteen year old Briony Tallis is spending time with her family at their country house in England. As three of her cousins have joined them, Briony decides to organise them to take part in the performance of a play she has written. This plan is easier said than done.

Part one of Atonement by Ian McEwan deals with events occurring in the Tallis household in1935  including a secret relationship between Briony's older sister, Cecelia, and  Robbie Turner. Briony, who loves writing, observes events as they occur around her and makes assumptions about what she notices. Unfortunately she jumps to incorrect conclusions that destroys relationships between family members and friends.

Part two deals with the the horrific experiences of British and French soldiers endeavouring to reach the north coast of France for the Dunkirk evacuation between 26 May and 4 June, 1940.

Part three provides us information about Briony's experiences during the war when she working as a nurse in London hospitals and witnessing the often severe war injuries of rescued soldiers. On a day off she also visits the wedding of two of the protagonists from part one of the book and later that day has an encounter with her sister and Robbie. She is looking for a way to make amends for her past behaviour.

The plot then jumps to 1999 when Briony attends a celebration for her birthday in a hotel which used to be the family home. By this time she has become a successful author but her last novel will not be able to be published until after her death and the death of two of the protagonists in the book. The reader also becomes aware of a twist that occurred in part three of the novel.

Atonement is a book about family relationships, class, impact of war, guilt and the need for atonement as well as what is really required to become a writer. The novel, published in 2001, was nominated for many awards, winning some, and was made into a film in 2007. It is one of Ian McEwan's best known novels.

This Novel Had Everything - Penguin Books 

Atonement by Ian McEwan is a meditation on creativity in later life - The Conversation

Dunkirk evacuation - Britannica

Atonement (novel) - Wikipedia

On Chesil Beach

July 1962 and Florence and Edward, who had been married in the morning, arrive to spend the beginning of their marriage at Chesil Beach in Dorset. Looming over both of them are fears involving the consummation of their marriage that evening. Florence and Edward come from different backgrounds, from very different families. They have become good friends and love each other but are they really ready for marriage?

In On Chesil Beach Ian McEwan provides an account of the thoughts and actions of the young couple on this important night in their young lives. Meanwhile the  reader discovers the back story of their different lives and how they accidentally met. 

The 1960s saw many changes in society, especially for younger people, but for Florence and Edward this was a future still to come. Decisions made at Chesil Beach would affect their lives, not just on that day but permanently. On Chesil Beach was published in 2007.

What We Can Know

The year is 2119 and much of England is flooded. Those who survived the Inundation and Derangement in the mid twentieth century have retreated to higher ground. Disaster occurred with the accidental dropping of a nuclear weapon into the ocean causing tidal waves flooding much of a world already threatened by rising sea water. Travel between the small islands was by boat and on land by bike. Before this catastrophe countries continued their wars, further developed nuclear weapons and climate change was imminent. Millions of people died and those left struggled to live a very different life.

Professor Tom Metcalfe works at the University of the South Downs where he attempts to interest students in history and literature, especially in the time period 1990-2030. He is also interested in discovering what happened to the only copy of a poem, A Corona for Vivien, written by Francis Blundy in 2014. He has set out to study all available sources about the poet and his wife.

In part one of What We Can Know by Ian McEwan we learn of events that led to the writing of the poem and the the party where Francis read the poem to the guests. We also get to know Tom Metcalfe and the extent to which he has researched the lives and work of Francis and Vivien Blundy.

In part two the reader has access to a copy of a manuscript written by Vivien Blundy where she provides an account of her life and relationships and reveals what happened to the poem. Tom Metcalfe had edited Vivien's manuscript for publication.

Much of What We Can Know is about how we treat history and evaluate life that occurred at other times. The author questions what we really know about the past, how much don't we know and how reliable are the sources. Many people are reluctant to learn about the past and accept how knowledge of past events may affect what happens in the future.

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan is a social commentary on life and how current events may affect our future. This is a novel that readers should set aside uninterrupted time to read.

The Children Act

Fiona Maye is a High Court Judge in the family court. She is approaching 60 and has been married to Jack for 30 years. Reasonably happily she thought until one night Jack asked for her permission for him to have an affair. This leads Fiona to reevaluate her relationship with Jack and also to involve herself more than ever in her work.

Working in the family court Fiona regularly deals with the problems of others - people going through a messy divorce, custody battles, children being removed from the country illegally for instance. Then she has a case in which she needs to decide whether Adam, a seventeen year old boy, has the right to refuse a blood transfusion that will save his life. Adam's parents are Jehovah's Witnesses and he has been brought up to believe that having a blood transfusion is a sin. The complexities of making the decision, as well as the ramifications of that decision, form a major part of this novel by Ian McEwan.

This is a relatively short book - only 213 pages. It is beautifully written as it delves into complex relationships, difficult decisions and their consequences. This is definitely a book to try and read without interruption.

Sweet Tooth

Serena Frome wants to study English at university however she bows to parental pressure and goes to Cambridge to study mathematics. In her final year she has a brief affair with an older man who encourages her to apply for a job at MI5. Ian McEwan has set the book in the early 1970s at the end of the Cold War. It is also the time of IRA bombings, petrol shortages, an economic crisis and industrial unrest in Britain. Serena, who has maintained her interest in reading, particularly modern literature, is seconded to the project, Sweet Tooth, where her mission is to encourage a young novelist to accept a grant from a literary agency funded by MI5. It is believed that the writings of the targeted novelist along with other authors in the program will promote the MI5 message.

Books and writing are a major thread of the book. It is the short stories of Tom Haley that have brought him to the attention of MI5 and some of these are included throughout the book along with literary discussion between Tom and Serena. Serena soon discovers that working undercover is not always easy, especially as her relationship with Tom develops. Should she tell him about her real role and risk losing her job and his love or should she continue with the situation as it it in the hope that he will not discover the truth. The book, although set within a spy agency, is not a thriller but  is about truth, trust and betrayal. It also investigates the relationship between authors and readers.