On Chesil Beach-Ian McEwan

An elegant book which is much more than a well crafted description of a disastrous wedding night. Florence and Edward, products of the post war era and its severity, fail to adapt to the sexually liberated swinging sixties;their initial comic fumblings move with a certain inevitability to a tragic outcome. We learn that lives can change in an instant and founder because of what is left unsaid. A well written novel in which the tension is palpable, the awkward exchanges between the young couple touching and McEwan's dissection of their characters and relationship masterly.