Why did I love this book?
A magnificent and meticulous literary account of the architecture—or, rather, labyrinth—of imagination and memory, this tortured tale of mis-seeing and misunderstanding, of repercussions and regrets, is centered on the events of summer 1935, when a precocious 13-year-old, Briony Tallis, witnesses—and misconstrues—encounters between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant. Most notably, the locations where these encounters take place—a fountain on the estate, the library, the grand manor itself—suggest the complicated ways in which we perceive our own and others’ identities within and against houses.
13 authors picked Atonement as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
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 for ever. 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…
