Book Club in a Bag

Title: Atonement

Author: Ian McEwan

Author Biography: Ian McEwan was born in Aldershot, England, and now lives in London. He studied at the University of Sussex and the University of East Anglia. McEwan's works have earned him worldwide critical acclaim. His bestselling novel Atonement received the WH Smith Literary Award (2002), National Book Critics' Circle Fiction Award (2003), Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction (2003), and the Santiago Prize for the European Novel (2004). Author Website:

Summary: On the hottest day of the summer of 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her older sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching Cecilia is their housekeeper's son Robbie Turner, a childhood friend who, along with Briony's sister, has recently graduated from Cambridge. By the end of that day the lives of all three will have been changed forever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had never before dared to approach and will have become victims of the younger girl's scheming imagination. And Briony will have committed a dreadful crime, the guilt for which will color her entire life.

Reading Level: Approximately 10th grade (22.0 AR Points)

Genre: Historical fiction, drama

Curriculum/Subject Ties: World War II, false accusations of abuse

Suggested Snack: M&Ms (Amo bar)

Suggested Props or Activity: Trials of Arabella poster, movie tie-in

Suggested Music: Big Band, patriotic

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is the importance of the scene between Robbie and Cecilia at the fountain?
  2. Why does Briony denounce Robbie so forcefully and maintain that position with such determination?
  3. Lola has a critical role in the story's plot. What are her motivations? Why does Briony decide not to confront Lola and Paul Marshall at their wedding five years later?
  4. How does Robbie's march to Dunkirk relate to the rest of the book's themes?
  5. Why does Briony choose to enter nursing and turn her back on her family?
  6. Do you sympathize with Briony? Can you understand why she acted as she did?
  7. What does "atonement" mean for the various characters? Does Briony ever find the atonement that she seeks?
  8. What does Atonement have to say about books and the interpretation of their meanings?
  9. Did the ending surprise you? In what ways?
  10. Trace the interactions of Robbie and Cecilia. How does their relationship sustain them both? What does this say about love?

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Notes:

Sources: Manitowoc Public Library, Book Browse, AR Book Finder, ianmcewan.com