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Article: Beach music; New fiction.(Ian McEwan's new novel)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- March 31, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IAN McEWAN is back on form. Following "Saturday", his enjoyable but overly safe previous novel, this master of fiction has written a poignant new book that in terms of its diminutive size--though not its emotional range--is reminiscent of his Man Booker-prize-winning "Amsterdam".
It is July 1962. Edward and Florence, both 22 years old, educated yet innocent, have been married for just eight hours after a courtship bound by unspoken protocols. In their honeymoon suite overlooking Chesil Beach on the Dorset coast they are served a formal dinner of long-ago roasted beef in thickened gravy, soft-boiled vegetables and white wine: "It would not have crossed Edward's ...