A small wonder of a book . . . A particular historical moment, one that cannot be told too often

The Holocaust as a subject insists on respect, precludes criticism, prefers silence. One thing is clear: this book will not go gently into any good night

An extraordinary tale of friendship and the horrors of war . . . Raw literary talent at its best

A book that lingers in the mind for quite some time . . . A subtle, calculatedly simple and ultimately moving story

Simply written and highly memorable. There are no monstrosities on the page but the true horror is all the more potent for being implicit

Stays ahead of its readers before delivering its killer-punch final pages

Full of shocking juxtapositions and leads to a horrifying denouement . . . this is a deeply affecting novel

An extraordinary story of friendship

A very human and profoundly moving introduction to one of the darkest moments in history

Thought-provoking and moving, Boyne's book is one that lingers in the mind long after its last page

I couldn't put it down. Through the eyes of a child it was innocent and oh, so chilling. I was hooked to the last page

This novel is a fine addition to a once taboo area of history, at least where children's literature is concerned. It provides an account of a dreadful episode short on actual horror but packed with overtones that remain in the imagination

The Booker-winning author has woven multiple versions of himself into Lessons, his 500-page masterpiece.

Superb... A wonderful author has delivered another mesmerising, memorable novel.

A tour de force of breadth... McEwan writes with invigorating alertness about social and political shifts over the past 70 years.

McEwan's prose always goes down like a cool drink, and its content is often trenchant...I'm delighted to have added this thoughtful, touching and historically grounded novel to my bookshelf.

A moving and masterful work that captures the essence of McEwan....The book's psychological astuteness and elegant prose, is a thrill to behold.

Compassionate and gentle, and so bereft of cynicism it feels almost radical....

Lessons has the wonderful freshness that comes when an author tries something new - along with McEwan's customary wit, insight and compassion.

McEwan's deft, descriptive prose charts the complexity of growing up and finding one's place in an ever-shifting world

[A] big, detailed, sweep of history: starting in the aftermath of World War Two and ending in lockdown. And there's lots going on here other than history too - family drama, tales from boarding school, and a vanishing wife

An expansive novel that finds the epic in domestic situations.

One of his most humane and agreeable [novels].

[Lessons is] an epic tale with domesticity at its centre, encompassing a swathes of history, designed to make you think of the impact of events have on you and, in turn, the impact you make on the world.

Roland's journey is not easy, but the dramatic evocation of his struggles and setbacks means readers will follow him every step of the way

A literary feat of undeniable majesty.

Lessons... [is] so beautifully done as to provide abundant proof of why McEwan still occupies that number-one spot.

Lessons is deep and wide, ambitious and humble, wise and substantial. It is, to my mind, McEwan's best novel in 20 years because it is so alert to human texture and complexity... It marks a significant new phase in McEwan's already astonishingly productive career.

McEwan's literary reach is equal to the task of chronicling Roland's full life. The novel moves back and forth in time, shifting confidently from a long ago past to a vivid present, offering sharp dialogue, intense description, soulful meditations.

Lessons spans a long life and recounts each event in details... [McEwan's] skilful writing makes us keen to turn the pages.

McEwan's new novel is a profound demonstration of his remarkable skill. LESSONS progresses in time the way a rising tide takes the beach: a cycle of forward surges and seeping retreats, giving us a clearer and fuller sense of Roland's life. He becomes a kind of Zelig character passing through momentous changes in the late-20th century. Indeed, even more than McEwan's previous novels, LESSONS is a story that so fully embraces its historical context that it calls into question the synthetic timelessness of much contemporary fiction.

Brilliant . . . a beguiling and irresistible read . . . A masterpiece of a novel that is simultaneously about the business of growing up and getting old, and the business of writing fiction. McEwan, an unparalleled master of social realism, performs a remarkable trick: He manages to create an ineffable sense of mystery out of a rather ordinary human life. How does McEwan pull it off? Through the patient accretion of closely observed detail and one beautiful, shimmering sentence after another.

[Lessons] is quietly touching, as is Mr. McEwan's decision to cede his habitual narrative control to more naturalistic forces. Lessons is more formless than previous books . . . It is also wiser and closer to the bone.

Lessons is an achievement of language but also of ambition: A male writer charts, in consummate detail, the interior world of a male protagonist barely able to keep his chin above a tide of social change

A luminous, beautifully written, and gripping book about lives imperfectly lived. McEwan's new novel is ranging, ambitious, teasingly autobiographical, and unsettling in the manner of his best work, a story of monstrous behavior set against major tides of the last 80 years.

Setting the personal dramas of an individual life against the backdrop of great historical events, McEwan asks how we can learn from the past to live in the present with grace.

Masterful . . . McEwan is a storyteller at the peak of his powers and this deserves to be near the top of the 'best books of 2022' list. One of the joys of the novel is the way it weaves history into Roland's biography as well as the lives of other characters in the book.

Richly observed . . . A tale of aspiration, disappointment, and familial dysfunction spread across a vast historic panorama . . . McEwan's imagination delivers plenty of family secrets and reflects on 'so many lessons unlearned' in a world that's clearly wobbling off its axis.

His best book for years.

McEwan is the most elegant of stylists, shaping sentences that make you see the world anew... and is matchless in his skill at elaborating the interior lives of his characters.

McEwan's wry humanity and gentle amusement at his own generation proves irresistible and a joy to read.

A satisfyingly full-bodied return to form... This sprawling, redemptive, thought-provoking novel does not stand by, but wades into the mess of life.

Lessons spans baby-boomer lives, minds and times with vision, insight and dexterity.

McEwan... captures youthful lust and late-age regret with equal power.

Lessons is a terrifically enjoyable account of how personal and political history intersect through the life of Roland Baines.

McEwan's writing is as elegant and ideas-packed as ever.

A tale of dislocation and dissatisfaction, but also of warmth and humour.

As a novel which tells the story of post-war Britain, Lessons is without parallel... a wonderfully soulful and meditative book.

I loved Ian McEwan's blissfully long cradle-to-grave novel Lessons... It is life-affirming, deep and A-grade storytelling.

McEwan's longest and most autobiographical novel is also his most richly enjoyable for many years... the messiness of life reverberate with hard-won emotional truth.

A humane and highly thought-provoking novel

A riveting chronicle of our times