Atonement

'The best thing he has ever written' Observer

'A person is, among all else, a material thing, easily torn and not easily mended'

On the hottest day of the summer of 1935, 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 too is Robbie Turner 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, as Briony commits a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.

**ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY**

Review: 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. * . *

Prizes: Winner of WH Smith Literary Prize 2002 and Commonwealth Writers' Prize Best Book - Eurasia 2002. Short-listed for WH Smith Book Awards (Fiction) 2002 and Whitbread Prize (Fiction) 2001 and Booker Prize for Fiction 2001.