On December 7, 2007, the movie version of Ian McEwan's award-winning novel Atonement will open here in the United States (it is already playing to good reviews in the UK). This leaves plenty of time to read (or re-read) the novel before seeing the film. Originally published in 2001, Atonement won the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction, and was a short-list finalist for the Booker Prize.
The story opens on a hot summer's day in the English countryside. It is 1935 and England is on the brink of war. At the Tallis family country estate, 13-year old Briony anxiously awaits the arrival of her older brother Leon, for whom she has written a silly romantic play. She witnesses an encounter between her sister Cecila and Robbie Turner, the son of their charwoman, that she does not understand, but which changes her. Before the night is over, the play has been cancelled, a horrible crime has been taken place, and Briony will make an accusation that will change all three lives forever. The second part of the book moves ahead five years, England is in the early stages of WWII, Robbie is in the British Army, and Briony seeks atonement first through a career in nursing and then through writing.
Will the movie live up to the book? Will you see the movie before reading the book? Leave a comment and let us know!
(submitted by Cynthia Lambert, Library Intern)