by Ian McEwan
First published 2001
Thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses something she doesn't understand between her older sister Cecilia and Robbie Turner, the housekeeper's son. When a crime occurs that same sweltering evening at the family estate, Briony's confused testimony sends Robbie to prison and tears apart his budding romance with Cecilia. The war arrives and Robbie finds himself retreating with British forces toward Dunkirk while Cecilia works as a nurse in London. Briony, now older and training as a nurse herself, begins to comprehend the magnitude of her childhood error. The three characters carry their wounds through the brutal years of World War II. Each struggles with remorse, heartbreak, and the question of whether some wrongs can ever be made right. Briony searches for a way to repair the damage she caused, but time and war have made the path to forgiveness treacherous.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, war, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: England, Great Britain, University of Cambridge
Period: 1936-1952, George 6, George VI, 1936-1952, George V, 1910-1936, 1935, 1939-45
351 pages · Paperback · Anchor Books
Content warnings: war