I
love asking customers when they buy a McEwan novel, if they are a fan or
whether it’s the first McEwan novel they are reading. Everyone’s answers are
really interesting and I’ve come to find that he’s a real marmite author –love
him or hate him.
Personally
I love a McEwan novel. Atonement is
probably one of my favourite books I have ever read. The Cement Garden is another really good one of his which is his
debut. In my opinion, his earlier work is a lot stronger than his more recent
work. I did not care for Solar. So
this is his latest, published last year in PB, and it is good. But just good.
It centers on Serena Frome, who eventually is groomed for the intelligence
services and what happens from there is a web of intrigue and interest. I just feel
like McEwan doesn’t do his characters justice in this novel. Or maybe it’s just
the fact that none of the characters are very likeable, and the ones that are
supposed to be are quite irritating.
Although
I think McEwan falls short of his usual magic, I did actually enjoy this. As I
say, if you’re a McEwan fan, its worth a read but if you are new to McEwan,
you’re better off with one of his earlier ones.
Blurb Tooth:
“Serena
Frome, the beautiful daughter of an Anglican bishop, has a brief affair with an
older man during her final year at Cambridge, and finds herself being groomed
for the intelligence services. The year is 1972. Britain, confronting economic
disaster, is being torn apart by industrial unrest and terrorism and faces its
fifth state of emergency. The Cold War has entered a moribund phase, but hr
fight goes on, especially in the cultural sphere.
Serena,
a compulsive reader of novels, is sent on a ‘secret mission’ which brings her
into the literary world of Tom Haley, a promising young writer. First she loves
his stories, then she begins to love the man. Can she maintain the fiction of
her undercover life? And who is inventing whom? To answer these questions,
Serena must abandon the first rule of espionage – trust no one.
McEwan’s
mastery dazzles us in this superbly deft and witty story of betrayal and
intrigue, love, and the invented self.”
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