Ian McEwan is one of the most celebrated contemporary British writers (along with Julian Barnes and Martin Amis), and winner of the Booker Prize for his novel Amsterdam.

'Atonement' is a strikingly sincere 'chronicle of lost time' told by a teenage girl, who, in her own bizarre and childishly cruel way, reassesses and reinterprets the events of her 'adult' life. Having witnessed a rape, she interprets it in her own way and sets in motion a chain of fateful events that will 'come back to haunt' her in the most unexpected way many, many years later...

'Yes, she was only a child. But not every child's lies send a man to prison.'

In 2007, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name was released (directed by Joe Wright, starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy). The film was presented at the Venice Film Festival, won two Golden Globe awards, and one of its seven Oscar nominations.