On Chesil Beach

by Ian McEwan

It is June 1962. In a hotel on the Dorset coast, overlooking Chesil Beach, Edward and Florence, who got married that morning, are sitting down to dinner in their room. Neither is entirely able to suppress their anxieties about the wedding night to come…

On Chesil Beach is another masterwork from Ian McEwan – a story about how the entire course of a life can be changed by a gesture not made or a word not spoken

(From Publisher).

Ian McEwan is the author of two collections of stories and ten previous novels, including Enduring Love, Amsterdam, for which he won the Booker Prize in 1998, Atonement and Saturday

A reminder to us all to seize our opportunities. This love story flows beautifully, and like the waves on the beach crash against our fears and inertia leaving the main protagonist wondering what might have been.

Convincing picture of the era (beginning of the 1960s), a serious story.

The author has a deep knowledge of human feelings. He is a master in choosing the decisive moment for a certain event: once it happens nothing will ever be the same again.

McEwan writes a great story about a drama between two people. Using one couple's wedding night, he highlights how small misunderstandings become big problems. Excellent use of language and dead-on depiction of emotions.

This title resonated with the Vancouver Public Library staff who nominated it. It shows the author's ability in writing about an event at a turning point in a young couple's life that can determine their future.