Atonement

by Ian McEwan

ATONEMENT, which Ian McEwan has called his "Jane Austen novel," is divided into three sections, reaching from the first chapter, set in 1935, to a startling coda in the early 2000s. In between is wartime Europe and a group of nurses tending to wounded soldiers; this section also describes the aftermath of the battle of Dunkirk, in which McEwan's father fought. (McEwan gives his father, who died just before ATONEMENT was published, a walk-on part.) The story revolves around a disastrous misunderstanding by a young teenage girl, which leads to a tragic series of events that culminate in a stunning surprise ending. ATONEMENT was short-listed for the 2001 Booker Prize. A New York Times "Editor's Choice" for 2002.

Editions of Atonement

ISBN 9780385721790	Binding/Format Paperback	Publisher Anchor Books	Date 2003	Price $1.00	Used - Good
ISBN 9780385503952	Binding/Format Hardcover	Publisher Doubleday	Date 2002	Price $1.00	Very Good
ISBN 9781402511783	Binding/Format Audio Cassette	Publisher Recorded Books	Date 2002	Price $3.99	Very Good
ISBN 9780786239214	Binding/Format Hardcover	Publisher Thorndike Pr	Date 2002	Price $2.97	Good
ISBN 9781597771009	Binding/Format Compact Disc	Publisher Ingram Pub Services	Date 2006	Price $7.98	Used - Like New
ISBN 9780754091479	Binding/Format Paperback	Publisher Thorndike Pr	Date 2002	Price None Available
ISBN 9780754017523	Binding/Format Hardcover	Publisher Thorndike Pr	Date 2002	Price £80.00
ISBN 9781590074541	Binding/Format Compact Disc	Publisher New Millenium Audio	Date 2003	Price None Available
ISBN 9780754008309	Binding/Format Audio Cassette	Publisher Chivers Audio Books	Date 2002	Price $20.66	Very Good
ISBN 9781590074534	Binding/Format Audio Cassette	Publisher New Millenium Audio	Date 2003	Price $1.00	Good
ISBN 9781405835619	Binding/Format Paperback	Publisher Prentice Hall	Date 2006	Price €11.72
ISBN 9780754055129	Binding/Format Compact Disc	Publisher Chivers Audio Books	Date 2002	Price None Available
ISBN 9780307387158	Binding/Format Paperback	Publisher Anchor Books	Date 2007	Price $1.00	As New

Publisher Notes

In 1935 England, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses an event involving her sister Cecilia and her childhood friend Robbie Turner, and she becomes the victim of her own imagination, which leads her on a lifelong search for truth and absolution. Reissue. (A Focus Features film, written by Christopher Hampton, directed by Joe Wright, releasing Fall 2007, starring Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Brenda Blethyn, Vanessa Redgrave, & Romola Garai) (General Fiction)

Media Reviews

"As well as being a superb writer of place, McEwan is also among the finest practitioners of the free indirect style in English, and each phrase in ATONEMENT vibrates with the voice of the character it is so discreetly ventriloquizing....The dust jacket proclaims ATONEMENT his finest achievement, and although publishers are prone to this...view of their authors' talents, in this case they are triumphantly right."

First Line

The play--for which Briony had designed the posters, programs and tickets, constructed the sales booth out of a folding screen tipped on its side, and lined the collection box in red crêpe paper--was written by her in a two-day tempest of composition, causing her to miss a breakfast and a lunch.

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