Atonement by Ian McEwan (2002)

This book in my favorite historical fiction genre did not really grab me until the very end, when I felt its

power. It is divided into three parts with an epilogue of sorts, though having listened to it, I couldn't quite figure out how it was labeled.

We start in 1935 with a detailed description of just a few days in 1935, where we see the well off Tallis family - 13 year old Briney, who wants to put on a play with her newly arrived cousins, her older sister Cecelia and older brother Leon. Mother Emily suffers from constant migranes and spends most of her time in bed. Father Jack is busy at work and doesn't always come home. Robby is the son of their housekeeper and is in love with Cecelia. I know kids are imaginative, and I too remember having flights of fancy, though I don't recall details of the topics of my thoughts, but it was hard reading about the over active imagination of Briney and her misinterpretation of what she sees that ends up affecting other lives.

The second part takes us to France during 1940 and the British retreat to Dunkirk, where the story is told mostly from Robby's point of view. This is a glimpse into the harsh realities of that war. As much as I dislike hearing these stories, we must keep telling them and hearing them, as only then we have any chance of having the motivation to prevent future wars. My friends in Facebook are currently discussing the atrocities of WWII done to women, and how little we know of those, as our parents would not talk of such things.

The third part of the book also takes place in 1940, but this time in London, following Cecelia and Briney, who saw the horrors of the war in their work as nurses in the hospitals. I was struck by the details such as preparing for bomb attacks - fortifying walls, doors, windows and roofs. I had heard of blackening out all light, so enemy planes could not find you, but I just can't imagine what that would be like. I am uncomfortable when we have a power outage and I drive through completely dark neighborhoods.

The epilogue shows us Briney for a few days in one of the last years of her life. Her acerbic wit comes through and pulls the whole story together. It is only when I realized what her atonement was, that I was struck by the skill of Ian McEwan as an author. I just may need to read some of his other work and see the movie version of this book.

I just realized this is my 500th post. Not bad for 8 years of book reading.