His journey raises important questions for us all. Haunted by lost opportunities, Roland seeks solace through every possible means-music, literature, friends, sex, politics, and, finally, love cut tragically short, then love ultimately redeemed. As the radiation from Chernobyl spreads across Europe, he begins a search for answers that looks deep into his family history and will last for the rest of his life. Now, when his wife vanishes, leaving him alone with his tiny son, Roland is forced to confront the reality of his restless existence. Two thousand miles from his mother's protective love, stranded at an unusual boarding school, his vulnerability attracts piano teacher Miss Miriam Cornell, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade.

When the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has closed, eleven-year-old Roland Baines's life is turned upside down. From the Suez Crisis to the Cuban Missile Crisis, the fall of the Berlin Wall to the current pandemic, Roland Baines sometimes rides with the tide of history, but more often struggles against it. The literary artistry leaves this reader in awe.” -The Boston Globeįrom the best-selling author of Atonement and Saturday comes the epic and intimate story of one man's life across generations and historical upheavals.

McEwan’s richly textured novel offers cryptic lessons, but what they teach leaves Roland, ‘an ardent autodidact,’ bewildered. The story of how Roland smuggles Animal Farm, a Velvet Underground album, and other contraband to friends in East Germany is a miniature, flawless thriller. The physical struggle between Roland and Peter Mount, a smarmy MP who was Daphne’s first husband, to seize her ashes and empty them into a rustic river is a tragicomic gem. Consummate set pieces include a poignant account of how Roland’s beloved second wife, Daphne, diagnosed with terminal cancer, spends her final weeks and hours. a masterpiece of modulation among pathos, fury, and affection. McEwan’s imagination delivers plenty of family secrets and reflects on ‘so many lessons unlearned’ in a world that’s clearly wobbling off its axis.” - Kirkus Reviews A tale of aspiration, disappointment, and familial dysfunction spread across a vast historic panorama. Once more, the masterly McEwan delights.” - Publishers Weekly He also employs lyrical but pared-down prose to great effect. Throughout, McEwan poignantly shows how the characters contend with major historical moments while dealing with the ravages of daily life, which is what makes this so affecting. “McEwan returns with his best work since the Booker- and NBCC-winning Atonement.

Book review lessons ian mcewan