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On the hottest day of the summer of 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sisiter Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of her 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 crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.

At first I struggled with this book - it has a slow start. I looked up other reviews to try and get an idea if it was worth carrying on. I found a review that stated the reader had struggled until P.90 and it was worth it after that. I checked and I was on P.82 - I'm so glad I kept going. The book is in three parts:-

The first part is set in a family house and grounds in the summer of 1935 and is incredibly written, sensitive, mysterious and gripping.

Part 2 is set during World War 2. I was shocked by some of the prose, especially the description of the mayhem on the roads to Dunkirk and the horrors of war. Even worse was the description of the wounds in the hospital. I recorded the film of this recently because I knew I was planning to read the book and although I'm looking forward to it, I hope you don't see the wounds as they are described in the book.

Part 3 - 1999. Did Briony ever manage to atone for what she did and finally set things to rights? In the end, there was no mystery remaining, all loose ends of the story tied up tight.

A sad, haunting tale of love loss and yes you guessed it....... atonement!

This book might just have jumped straight into my favourite list.

At this year's unconvention, I'm giving away my 50 favourite books for my 50th birthday. This was a favourite I read in 2015.

Found this one on the shelf at the Hopping Hare hotel. Taking it with me to give as a wishlist surprise.

Travelling as part of a prize in the non-EU author and local chocolate sweepstakes!

Received today :-) The book travelled with three Tony's Chocolonely bars: almond sea salt, caramel sea salt and nougat, yummy! I have never read anything from Ian McEwan yet, so here is my chance - finally. Thank you very much!

The book has some lengths but I liked the writing very much. That made it enjoyable to read.