在當今英國文壇，寫嚴肅小說又好又叫座的，當數伊恩·麥剋尤恩，他也被認為是英國文壇當前最具影響力的作傢之一。麥剋尤恩的作品多為短篇小說，內容大都離奇古怪、荒誕不經，有“黑色喜劇”之稱。他的文字簡潔而且優雅，他對人的生存狀態的洞察和深挖使他筆下經常是“不潔”的題材具有真正的人性深度。自他的第一本短篇小說集《最初的愛情和最後的儀式》獲得1975年的毛姆奬以來，他四次獲得布剋奬提名，並最終在1998年以《阿姆斯特丹》摺桂。《贖罪》同樣獲得2001年的布剋奬提名，雖然最終未能獲奬，但評論卻給予瞭較之《阿姆斯特丹》更多更動聽的溢美之詞，認為比它更豐滿，更好讀，既有討好讀者的動人情節，喜劇因素，又不乏冷色調，讓人愛不釋手。2007年，麥剋尤恩憑藉《切瑟爾海灘上》再次入圍英國布剋奬。

Book Description

On the hottest day of the summer of 1934, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her is Robbie Turner, her childhood friend who, like Cecilia, has recently come down from Cambridge. By the end of that day, the lives of all three will have been changed for ever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had not even imagined at its start, and will have become victims of the younger girl's imagination. Briony will have witnessed mysteries, and committed a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.

Book Dimension

length: (cm)19.7 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)12.8