'Atonement' by Ian McEwan

I saw this movie a few years ago so I know how it would end but it was a highly acclaimed read so I was excited to try it on for size.

The prose was brilliant and the plot was ingenious and the characters were fully developed and intriguing.

Briony Tallis is a young girl who misunderstands what she sees happening between her older sister Cecilia and the family's longtime friend Robbie Turner. When she decides to step up and fix the situation she only ruins the course of many lives unfairly. She spends the rest of her life trying to make up for her actions as a 13 year old, giving us the title.

I am impressed with how well a male author gave the perspectives of two female protagonists and even more satisfied with the embodiment of the unjustly accused and incriminated Robbie Turner. The book follows an interesting narrative technique as the author tells the most of the story from Briony's perspective. As the story apparently winds down we jump into her life as she's entering her 8th decade at which point she bemoans her inability to fix the mistakes she made as a youth and the irreperable consequences of her actions. I vaguely knew where the story was going so I was an impatient reader except for the section told in the perspective of Turner but it was an enjoyable read and I recommend it, especially for those who have an interest in the events of World War Two on the European Continent before America joined the contest.