He is this country's unrivalled literary giant...a fascinatingly strange, unique and gripping novel

Ian McEwan’s highly-charged story of sin and forgiveness is masterfully told. Tense, shocking and heart-breaking in equal turn.

Atonement is a masterpiece...it is also an elegy to a time which, however volatile, still had certainties

A beautiful and majestic fictional panorama

A deft and brilliant exploration of guilt, family and the rippling repercussions of a single moment in life

A superb achievement

A magnificent novel

The best thing he has ever written

McEwan's best novel so far, his masterpiece

Subtle as well as powerful, adeptly encompassing comedy as well as atrocity, Atonement is a richly intricate book... A superb achievement

An evocative depiction of the dangers of innocence and ignorance in the face of uncomfortable reality.

Brilliantly explores the currents of guilt, shame and anger... Utterly satisfying, complete

A complex, thought-provoking novel.

Smoulders with slow-burning menace

Just brilliant, particularly for the clever, poignant final chapter. I loved the shattering, satisfying twist

I love being transported to a different era and this masterly novel succeeds at every level

This is a rare creature - a heartbreaker with genuine heart. Wonderful

One of the great unrequited love stories

An astonishing narrative... a novel that stick with you long after you finish it

Simply stunning from beginning to end, this tense, evocative, beautifully-drawn novel transported me back to the 1930s and 40s, swept me away - and broke my heart too.

Atonement is a magnificent novel, shaped and paced with awesome confidence and eloquence

Subtle as well as powerful, adeptly encompassing comedy as well as atrocity, Atonement is a richly intricate book- A superb achievement which combines a magnificent display of the powers of the imagination with a probing exploration of them

The narrative, as always with McEwan, smoulders with slow-burning menace. You know that, even as you savour the voluptuous sentences, something terrible will happen and sure enough it does