Atonement Paperback

Atonement is a novel written by Ian McEwan and published in 2001. The story takes place on the hottest day of summer in 1935, where thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses her older sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and jump into the fountain in their country house's garden. Observing them both is Robbie Turner, who has just finished his studies at Cambridge. By the end of that day, the lives of all three characters are forever changed when Briony commits a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to make amends.

The novel explores themes of guilt, innocence, and redemption as it follows the lives of these characters over several decades. Atonement has received critical acclaim and won numerous awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction in 2002.