On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

Before I saw the film Atonement, I never heard of Ian McEwan (yes, I know, very sad!). But soon after I learned he wrote the book, my interest in his other work was solidified. One day while I was in Borders I chose to take a risk on an author I had never heard of and picked up On Chesil Beach. I have to give the man credit, I have never been so hooked to a book from the very first few sentences than I was when I first opened this one. It wasn't necessarily the story line, because at that point, I hadn't fully made up my mind about what I truly thought about it. But the formation of language... OMG... was AMAZING!! Every page was, correction, every SENTENCE was filled with such descriptive and well scripted language that it would be impossible not to continue. Just in the hopes of his literary genius rubbing off on you by continuously reading was enough of a long shot dream to turn every page!

But aside from the amazing talent of Mr. McEwan, I was deeply touched by the story he chose to tell. I don't want to give too much away, but the turmoil between the two characters (all within their wedding night) was unbelievable. He took you into the mind of these too seemingly happy and willing participants to their new marriage and turned that celebrated night upside down. The second you get a taste for their true thoughts, you begin to realize that there are mounds of issues that have either yet to be realized or refused to be dealt with. I don't want to give too much away, but the main thing I learned from reading this book was that love is NOTHING without patience. Patience to understand. Patience to recognize another's pain. Patience to step outside of one's intrinsic concerns and fears and be brave enough to cope with whatever "funk" you might find yourselves in by simply being honest.

Please read On Chesil Beach. It was truly amazing and heartbreakingly honest.

-Lauren