In a month of remembrance, our monthly read is Atonement by Ian McEwan. A tale of two halves, this book begins one summer night in 1934, and that night will shape the lives of the three main characters indefinitely. This month's read is a book of crimes and consequences, told in parallel with the effects of World War Two.

Blurb:

On the hottest day of the summer of 1934, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her is Robbie Turner, her childhood friend who, like Cecilia, has recently come down from Cambridge.

By the end of that day the lives of all three will have been changed forever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had not even imagined at its start, and will have become victims of the younger girl’s imagination. Briony will have witnessed mysteries, and committed a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.

Founders Review:

Published in 2001 with a film later produced in 2007, Atonement by Ian McEwan is a powerful novel about consequence and the ripple effect caused by action. Cleverly tied in within war-time Britain, this book tackles themes of love, longing, hate, immaturity, family and community, spanning three different time periods of the characters lives, each affected differently by the very same crime.

Where to find this book: £9.99 at bookshop.org