“The problem these fifty-nine years has been this: how can a novelist achieve atonement when, with her absolute power of deciding outcomes, she is also God?”
Initially set in pastoral England in the 1930s, "Atonement" does a stellar job of blending timelines and backdrops. The action moves to France in World War II and eventually to 1999 London as the characters embrace challenges, emotions, and obstacles.
McEwan is a master at navigating an unreliable narrator and documenting the horrors of war, elegantly interspersing poignant interpersonal moments along the way. He places a stolen moment in the midst of generational and global conflict, studying its ripple effects and ramifications over decades.
“As long as he did not think of the edge, he would not go near it, and would not be tempted. He forced himself to remember the dullest things he knew–bootblack, an application form, a wet towel on his bedroom floor.”
“ … Beauty she had discovered, occupied a narrow band. Ugliness, on the other hand, had infinite variation.”
The author deftly moves between the timelines, avoiding a number of opportunities that could have disrupted the narrative.
If the introduction of the C-word jars the reader to attention early on, the book really finds its stride in part two, as we're thrust into the middle of a war, replete with heartbreaking and horrific scenes. The final section, "London 1999," beautifully completes the tale.
“His business was to survive, though he had forgotten why.”
The result is a 21st-century epic, as "Atonement" thrives in the complexities of human nature and finds hope in the bleakest circumstances.
“‘Do you love me?’
“She hesitated. ‘Yes.’ No other reply was possible. Besides, for that moment, she did. He was a lovely boy who was a long way from his family and he was about to die.”
