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Pointless,
Insightful,
Beautiful

5 reviews

On Chesil Beach: A Novel
by Ian McEwan

Published: 2007-06-05
Hardcover : 203 pages
1 member reading this now
8 clubs reading this now
6 members have read this book
Recommended to book clubs by 3 of 5 members

A novel of remarkable depth and poignancy from one of the most acclaimed writers of our time.

It is July 1962. Florence is a talented musician who dreams of a career on the concert stage and of the perfect life she will create with Edward, an earnest young history student at University ...

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Introduction

(

A novel of remarkable depth and poignancy from one of the most acclaimed writers of our time.

It is July 1962. Florence is a talented musician who dreams of a career on the concert stage and of the perfect life she will create with Edward, an earnest young history student at University College of London, who unexpectedly wooed and won her heart. Newly married that morning, both virgins, Edward and Florence arrive at a hotel on the Dorset coast. At dinner in their rooms they struggle to suppress their worries about the wedding night to come. Edward, eager for rapture, frets over Florence’s response to his advances and nurses a private fear of failure, while Florence’s anxieties run deeper: she is overcome by sheer disgust at the idea of physical contact, but dreads disappointing her husband when they finally lie down together in the honeymoon suite.

Ian McEwan has caught with understanding and compassion the innocence of Edward and Florence at a time when marriage was presumed to be the outward sign of maturity and independence. On Chesil Beach is another masterwork from McEwan—a story of lives transformed by a gesture not made or a word not spoken.

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Discussion Questions

Suggested by Members

put yourself in the protagonist situation & tell us how u'd act if it happenned 2 u
by aliciafaierman (see profile) 03/28/10

Notes From the Author to the Bookclub

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Member Reviews

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by Maria D. (see profile) 06/18/14

 
by Erika B. (see profile) 06/18/14

 
  "A lack of Communication"by Donna C. (see profile) 03/31/10

Two young people who want so much to make a perfect mariage forget step one....communication. A fear on both of their parts sto let the other party know what their desires are leads to a very dramatic... (read more)

 
  "on chesil beach"by alicia f. (see profile) 03/28/10

not my cuppa tea. vg writing. impossible for me 2 understand the not making a move 2 chge a situation by the 2 protagonists who loved each other

 
  "On Chesil Beach"by Anne T. (see profile) 03/26/10

I love Ian McEwan's writing. He shows great incite and is poetic with words. On Chesil Beach is one more example of his ability to tell a story and evoke mood. He is an incredible writer and I would read... (read more)

 
  "on chesil beach"by alicia f. (see profile) 03/19/10

not my cuppa tea... - could 2 young people in love behave that way w/o trying 2 conquer difficulties???...WOW! never could've imagined it!

 
  "Failed to deliver"by jenn g. (see profile) 02/01/10

Our club agreed hands down we all hated it but we will never forget it!!! One moment can change everything.

 
  "On Chesil Beach"by Alexia K. (see profile) 01/22/10

 
  "A wedding night gone awry"by diane c. (see profile) 08/30/08

The writing here is very good but the story is rather dull. A newly married couple in the 1960's fails at consummating a marriage. Ho Hum.

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