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Atonement, the film of Ian McEwan’s novel of the same name, won only one Oscar in this year’s ceremony despite seven nominations. Reviews of the film tend to agree that the book has more subtlety and depth than the film. The musical score won its only prize.

One delightful snippet of useless information that I culled is that Yorkshire’s Redcar was used for the Dunkirk scenes, being the only setting that could evoke 1940s Dunkirk. It doesn’t say much for Redcar does it?

On Chesil Beach (2007) is McEwan’s latest novel. It is barely more than a short story but what a triumph!  Edward and Florence are virgins on their wedding night, victims of the generations of the first fifty years of the last century, when no-one broached the topic of sex.

We are privy to both their minds and listen with horrid fascination as their ignorance and mutual incomprehension lead to the inevitable disaster. The final pages make the story all the more poignant.

Sometimes comical but also very sad, this short novel reads like a document of social history and makes me very, very thankful for the sexual liberation and revolution of the sixties.

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