Atonement
Synopsis
Set in an England of class divisions, accentuated by the horrors of war, Atonement is an emotional exploration of shame, forgiveness and the difficulty of absolution. On the hottest day of summer 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister, Cecilia, strip off her clothes and jump into the fountain in the garden of their country home. She is watched by Robbie Turner, childhood friend and ward of Cecilia’s father and who, like Cecilia, has recently returned from Cambridge University. By the end of that day the lives of all three will have been changed forever.
Author Biography
Ian McEwan was born in Aldershot in 1948. His novels include The Cement Garden, The Comfort of Strangers (shortlisted for The Booker Prize in 1981), A Child in Time, The Innocent, Black Dogs (shortlisted for The Booker Prize in 1992), The Daydreamer, Enduring Love (which has since been made into a film starring Daniel Craig and Rhys Ifans), Amsterdam (winner of the Booker Prize in 1998) and Atonement (shortlisted for The Man Booker Prize in 2001). Ian was nominated for the Man Booker International Prize in 2005 and 2007. He has also written collections of short stories including First Love, Last Rites and several film scripts.
