One of Britain’s most celebrated and prolific modern novelists, Ian McEwan is a frequent prize-winner. His books regularly feature on the Booker Prize shortlist. Atonement was edged out of last year’s esteemed prize by Peter Carey’s The True History of the Kelly Gang. Choosing one over the other would have been a difficult decision.
McEwan is an author with a remarkable gift for combining graceful prose and challenging content within a gripping narrative. Part of the delight in reading his work is the unfurling of the plot. That said, it would be amiss to divulge too much of the story in a review.
The novel begins in 1935 on a country estate in England. It is the hottest day of the year. The hottest days in years. The Tallis family – with the exception of father – are preparing for their oldest child Leon to arrive for a visit. He brings with him millionaire chocolate manufacturer Paul Marshall.
The household also has other guests with which to contend. Cousins Lola, Pierrot and Jackson, aged from nine to fifteen, have been dumped on the Tallises while their parents’ marriage dissolves in a stew of adultery and bickering.
It’s not an unusual device to mirror severe weather conditions with dramatic events. McEwan uses the building heat of the day and its impact on the various players within the narrative to good effect.
Thirteen-year-old Briony has been preparing a play to celebrate her brother’s return. The Trials of Arabella is a spectacle befitting the highly-strung pubescent dramatist. But despite rehearsals, posters and tickets the play is never performed. An altogether more desperate and destructive drama unfolds in its place. On the hottest day of the year, Briony commits a crime that punctures the Tallis family. The consequences are dire and Briony will spend the remainder of her long life pondering and attempting to atone for what she has done.
The narrative twists and turns, teasing the reader with differing perspectives and shifting layers. The essence of the tale is not clear until its conclusion.
Atonement is a tragedy of misunderstanding, weakness and malice. Divine intervention alone could mend the gashes within the Tallis family and the adult Briony is haunted by her childhood crime and feels its weight upon her. It changes her life’s trajectory but even this cannot undo what she has done.
