Atonement by Ian McEwan

Title: Atonement
Author: Ian McEwan
Publisher: Vintage Books
Release Date: 2nd May 2002
Genre: Romance, Crime, Classics, Period Drama

Summary:
In the summer of 1935, Briony Tallis tells a lie. Little does she know that this little indulgence on her imagination will have a detrimental impact on the lives of the ones she loves.

I think that is all I can say without giving away too much...

Review:
When I started reading this book, I was expecting it to be extremely boring as I am not a fan of the "Downtown Abbey Manor House" genre. I was, however, pleasantly surprised and became extremely engrossed with the characters and the plot.
One of my favourite aspects of the book is that the narration jumps around between Briony and Robbie. Through this McEwan helps to demonstrate the stark constrast in their lives and how the lives of victim and the culprit veer off into completely different parts. Similarly, through this split narration it allows you to gather, as the reader, the two different sides of the story, and of the main event, and show what appears on the surface is not always what it seems. So good!

The symbolism within the story is something to behold...(I will let you figure it out for yourself but look at for water in relation to Briony). The intricate details which McEwan creates of the scenery and of the grandness of the Tallis family home, will make you feel as though you are there and really help you to imagine what the characters lives are actually like. However, these were not my favourite parts of the book. My favourite parts were those when Robbie is off fighting in the war. It got to the point where I did not really want him to go home just so I could read more about the struggles of the war and what it was like. This sense of horror and intrigue is heightened by the realness of it all!

 I think what this point really drives home and demonstrates is the shock horror of how a young child's innocent fantasy can affect the lives of the ones she loves. Whilst most of us made up lies (admit it!) as a young innocent child, we never really understood what the repercussions of these could of been. To everyone it is all a bit of fun!

Rating: 8/10. Also watch the film, there is an amazing one-shot Steadicam follow shot in the Dunkirk beach scene. So good.

You can buy Atonement from Amazon here.