Ian McEwan’s brooding and occasionally sinister novel hints at how personal relationships can be beset by demons unleashed in wider human conflict.

Jeremy, the narrator, delves into the history of his in-laws, June and Bernard, who fell in love during World War II, joined the Communist party, and honeymooned in France. There, June left Bernard, who returned to London to continue his political activism. She remained, isolated in a farmhouse, contemplating her mystical encounter with God and evil during a period she refers to as her ‘black dogs’.

Shortlisted
The Booker Prize 1992
Published by
Jonathan Cape
Publication date
Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan

About the Author

Ian McEwan, born in Aldershot, England, is a critically acclaimed author and winner of the 1998 Booker Prize
More about Ian McEwan

Other nominated books by Ian McEwan

On Chesil Beach
Saturday
Atonement
Amsterdam
Prize winner
The Comfort of Strangers