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Atonement
- Narrated by: Carole Boyd
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
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Atonement
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY
Adapted into a major film starring Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Saoirse Ronan.
'A person is, among all else, a material thing, easily torn and not easily mended'
On the hottest day of the summer of 1935, 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 too is Robbie Turner 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, as Briony commits a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.
Critic reviews
"A magnificent novel." (Independent)
"A superb achievement." (New York Times)
"The best thing he has ever written." (Observer)
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What listeners love about Atonement
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- essjaybella
- 22-09-16
Slow start but beautifully crafted...
The reason I haven't given this five stars is because of the monotonous start. I nearly gave up. But I stuck with it and, what was a relatively minor event, in the scheme of things, was crafted into a huge web of little mysteries that I wanted resolved. The performance was outstanding and, overall, this is a beautifully written book.
17 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Helen N.
- 15-12-16
Amazing!
I had seen the film long before listening to this audiobook and loved it. However, the book is all the film was and much more. We are allowed access to Briony's mind and reasoning and it is not an easy story to hear. She is a character to love and hate and is written beautifully. I think the narrator does a wonderful job with an amazing story. A must read / listen.
11 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ms
- 11-03-16
Beautiful Story
This is Ian McKewan at his finest. I found this heartbreaking love story totally absorbing. It is awash with emotion and thought provoking details of war, love and the divisions of social class. It is clever in its design and pulls you into the world of characters and the world they lived in. I absolutely loved it.
10 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Richard
- 12-02-15
Stylish and deep
Narration superb. Eclipses the film. Excellent in its style and delivery. Better than I had expected for my first book.
9 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sarah Bailey
- 09-09-16
Excellent. Really enjoyed it
Would you consider the audio edition of Atonement to be better than the print version?
I have read the book but really enjoyed hearing the story - it bought it to life for me.
What does Carole Boyd bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
Really great reading; smooth and handles the language of the book brilliantly.
Any additional comments?
Overall an excellent story with great characters; beautifully written and thoroughly absorbing.
6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Andrew Callaghan
- 05-10-16
Great!
loved it, narrated very well - a great book to study for english A Level !!
5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sonia
- 09-03-16
Atonement
Very first novel I have listened to by this author and narrator. I enjoyed this very much, the twins were my favourite and the book which I read several years ago is just as brilliant and pleasure to enjoy again. The film is next for me.
5 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Daniel Westmoreland
- 18-06-15
Gripping tale
The book it's self is a gripping tale of love tested by the laws of a prewar society, and the application of a child's imagination on such damning events! Very good read, chosen for my a levels would recommend.
5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- R. White
- 02-06-15
An evocative tale
A beautifully told tale of the effect one lie from a child has on a family set against the backdrop of a 1930's upper class family, a war torn London and France and a passionate love that crossed the class barrier.
5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jack
- 29-01-15
An old fashioned sense of nostalgia
A fantastic piece by Ian McEwan, with clever uses of the passage of time to leave the reader in suspense, as well as the use of perspective to help gauge the consequences of certain characters actions.
I certainly know that my vocabulary benefited through his depiction of a girls life and her need to achieve atonement.
5 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Zeno
- 03-08-23
Great, once you get past part one
It doesn't often happen that I cannot WAIT to get past a part of a book. I knew the gist of the story - the lie in part one that leads to lives disrupted and destroyed forever. Part one centers on young Briony, as innocent as she is precocious. This is set - and played out to my mind - as something of a cross between Jane Austen and E.M. Forster. Rich family, in between the wars, sprawling mansion, first-world troubles keeping people mildly busy on a hot weekend when yes - things end in a momentous lie. But this first part of the book, while beautifully written and filled with insight about the various characters, just dragged on and on and on. And, as mentioned, it really was only about that lie that, in effect, is the inciting incident that BEGINS the story. You could have told me about that lie in one single paragraph and I'd have been happy.
The story then moves on and beautifully tells the stories of lives disrupted by the lie and by WWII - those parts are excellent ... there is a twist in a final part of the book that, while interesting from a literary point of view, I could have also done without. So basically, remove part one and the post script and you have something pretty awesome. Mind you, I very much enjoyed what Vanessa Redgrave did with that final part in the film adaptation.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 23-08-22
Perfect walk in one's psyche
Came to this book with great expectations and they were fulfilled. not in the way I expected, so that's a wonderfull achievement.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ben Vella
- 13-07-22
Slow start but worth the wait
I found this book hard going to begin with, but once it starts the story is hard to put down. Beautifully written, capturing the emotions and feel of so many views of events. Characters develop so well and feel so real. Thoroughly enjoyed.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 03-02-21
You want to read this book!
The book picks up very slowly, but once it does you will not put it down. So trust me when I say you should read it!
I don't want to say much cause then I'll just give you spoilers.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- cate edwards
- 08-10-15
What a rich experience with excellent narration.
Pared back writing that is meaty . Ian McEwan plays with time and memory and meaning to sculpt a nutritious story.