On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan
| Published: 30th December 2007 14:16 |
This is a short novel - only 166 pages, but absolutely beautifully written and keeps you gripped all the way through.
It is set in 1962 in a Georgian Inn on the Dorset Coast. It is the wedding night of Edward Mayhew, a graduate historian, and Florence Ponting, a violinist in a string quartet. Both are 22 and have just got married in Oxford.
The novel explores the past and the hang-ups of both of these characters with delicacy and precision. Edward is anxious about how he will perform, whilst Florence is disgusted by the prospect of sex.
The book has a fairy-tale quality in as much as everything that unfolds seem inevitable. Gradually the tension builds to a tense encounter on Chesil beach itself.
The awkward comedy of this relationship and ultimately something far more disturbing is conveyed clearly and you really feel for both of the characters.
I would thoroughly recommend this book whether you are an Ian McEwan fan or not.
Review by: J Gerry
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