Atonement

“A person is, among all else, a material thing, easily torn and not easily mended.” It is a lesson that 13-year-old Briony learns on two innocuousHarmless. summer days in 1935 that will pursue her until her death as a successful, elderly novelist. Atonement is a vast, ambitious panorama which casts a searching eye over the human condition, exploring the perils of innocence, the ordinariness of evil, the power of memory and the fallibility of moral character. At its heart are two doomed lovers, Cecilia and Robbie, torn apart by the overwrought imagination of the adolescent Briony, against the backdrop of a country still socially divided and on the brink of war. They correspond throughout the novel, and their passionate love for each other and the influence it has on those around them is the still driving force of the narrative long after their wartime deaths. The novel has been described as "symphonic", weaving an orchestral mass of voices, events and deceits together in a fluent, moving and somehow classic tale which has captivated readers since its release in 2001.