In this "irresistibly readable" (New York Review of Books) tour de force of psychological unease, the Booker Prize winner and bestselling author of Atonement excavates the ruins of childhood and uncovers things that most adults have spent a lifetime forgetting—or denying.
In the arid summer heat, four children—Jack, Julie, Sue and Tom—find themselves abruptly orphaned. All the routines of childhood are cast aside as the children adapt to a now parentless world. Alone in the house together, the children’s lives twist into something unrecognizable as the outside begins to bear down on them.
Don’t miss Ian McEwan’s new novel, Lessons.
"A shocking book, morbid, full of repellant imagery—and irresistibly readable.... The effect achieved by McEwan's quiet, precise and sensuous touch is that of magic realism—a transfiguration of the ordinary that has far stronger retinal and visceral impact than the flabby surrealism of so many experimental novels." —New York Review of Books
“Possesses the suspense and chilling impact of Lord of the Flies.” —Washington Post Book World
“Darkly impressive.” —The Times
“A superb achievement: his prose has instant, lucid beauty and his narrative voice has a perfect poise and certainty. His account of deprivation and survival is marvellously sure, and the imaginative alignment of his story is exactly right.” —Tom Paulin
“Marvellously creates the atmosphere of youngsters given that instant adulthood they all crave, where the ordinary takes on a mysterious glow and the extraordinary seems rather commonplace. It is difficult to fault the writing or the construction of this eerie fable.” —Sunday Times
"His writing is exact, tender, funny, voluptuous, disturbing." —The Times
"The Maestro." —New Statesman
"McEwan has—a style and a vision of life of his own...No one interested in the state and mood of contemporary Britain can afford not to read him." —John Fowles
"A sparkling and adventurous writer." —Dennis Potter
IAN MCEWAN is the critically acclaimed author of seventeen novels and two short story collections. His first published work, a collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites, won the Somerset Maugham Award. His novels include The Child in Time, which won the 1987 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award; The Cement Garden; Enduring Love; Amsterdam, which won the 1998 Booker Prize; Atonement; Saturday; On Chesil Beach; Solar; Sweet Tooth; The Children Act; Nutshell; and Machines Like Me, which was a number-one bestseller. Atonement, Enduring Love, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach have all been adapted for the big screen.
In this "irresistibly readable" (New York Review of Books) tour de force of psychological unease, the Booker Prize winner and bestselling author of Atonement excavates the ruins of childhood and uncovers things that most adults have spent a lifetime forgetting—or denying.
In the arid summer heat, four children—Jack, Julie, Sue and Tom—find themselves abruptly orphaned. All the routines of childhood are cast aside as the children adapt to a now parentless world. Alone in the house together, the children’s lives twist into something unrecognizable as the outside begins to bear down on them.
Don’t miss Ian McEwan’s new novel, Lessons.
Praise
"A shocking book, morbid, full of repellant imagery—and irresistibly readable.... The effect achieved by McEwan's quiet, precise and sensuous touch is that of magic realism—a transfiguration of the ordinary that has far stronger retinal and visceral impact than the flabby surrealism of so many experimental novels." —New York Review of Books
“Possesses the suspense and chilling impact of Lord of the Flies.” —Washington Post Book World
“Darkly impressive.” —The Times
“A superb achievement: his prose has instant, lucid beauty and his narrative voice has a perfect poise and certainty. His account of deprivation and survival is marvellously sure, and the imaginative alignment of his story is exactly right.” —Tom Paulin
“Marvellously creates the atmosphere of youngsters given that instant adulthood they all crave, where the ordinary takes on a mysterious glow and the extraordinary seems rather commonplace. It is difficult to fault the writing or the construction of this eerie fable.” —Sunday Times
"His writing is exact, tender, funny, voluptuous, disturbing." —The Times
"The Maestro." —New Statesman
"McEwan has—a style and a vision of life of his own...No one interested in the state and mood of contemporary Britain can afford not to read him." —John Fowles
"A sparkling and adventurous writer." —Dennis Potter
IAN MCEWAN is the critically acclaimed author of seventeen novels and two short story collections. His first published work, a collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites, won the Somerset Maugham Award. His novels include The Child in Time, which won the 1987 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award; The Cement Garden; Enduring Love; Amsterdam, which won the 1998 Booker Prize; Atonement; Saturday; On Chesil Beach; Solar; Sweet Tooth; The Children Act; Nutshell; and Machines Like Me, which was a number-one bestseller. Atonement, Enduring Love, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach have all been adapted for the big screen.
