As soon as I picked up Atonement, I was engrossed in it in no time. The author, Ian McEwan, captured my attention with his skillfully written backward fairy tale, deliciously dramatic scenes and the different perspectives of each character.

The story opens during the summer of 1935, on a hot sultry afternoon in the Tallis’ household. Cecilia Tallis, the eldest daughter, has just returned from Cambridge, where both she and Robbie Turner, the son of the Tallis’ cleaning lady, have been studying.
Thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis, her sister and a budding writer with a fertile imagination, has crafted her theatrical debut. The cast members are her cousins, the twin boys Jackson and Pierrot, and 15-year-old Lola. Through the nursery window, Briony witnesses a spat between her older sister and Robbie, which seizes her imagination. It appears that Cecilia shares an unresolved tension with Robbie.

The two barely spoke in Cambridge due to their different social status. Robbie writes a Cecilia a letter, but mistakenly passes the rough draft, which is highly explicit. Briony, entrusted as the delivery girl, reads the note and labels Robbie as a maniac. By evening, the homesick twins have run away. The rest of the party heads out to find them, where Briony comes upon Lola, who has been sexually assaulted. Briony’s knowledge of the note wills herself to believe that she witnessed Robbie at the crime scene, which leads to the arrest of Robbie. This is the act for which Briony seeks atonement, as she wrongly accused Robbie of a crime that he did not commit.

Overall, Atonement is a story about love, war, betrayal and mistaken identities. It is definitely not a book to be missed with its intriguing and suspenseful story line.

Rating: ★★★★★ -- Excellent