“In the seriousness of its intentions and the dazzle of its language, Atonement made me starry-eyed all over again on behalf of literature’s humanizing possibilities.”

—Daphne Merkin, Los Angeles Times

“Resplendent…. Graceful…. Magisterial…. Gloriously realized.”

— The Boston Globe

“A work of astonishing depth and humanity…. It is rare for a critic to feel justified in using the word ‘masterpiece,’ but [Atonement] really deserves to be called one.”

— The Economist

“McEwan is technically at the height of his powers, and can do more or less anything he likes with the novel form.”

— The New York Review of Books

“Astonishing…. Lush and heavily populated, [with] one of the most remarkable erotic scenes in modern fiction…. [It] is something you will never forget.”

— Chicago Tribune

“Enthralling … extraordinary…. Ambitious…. With psychological insight and a command of sensual and historical detail, Mr. McEwan creates an absorbing fictional world.”

— The Wall Street Journal

“[Atonement] hauls a defining part of the British literary tradition up to and into the 21 ^ST century.”

— The Guardian

“Seductive and redemptive…. His most complete and compassionate work to date.”

— The New York Times Book Review

“Astonishing…. Gorgeous…. Bewitching…. A thought-provoking, luxuriant novel.”

— Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Extraordinary…. Marvelous…. Certainly his finest and most complex novel…. McEwan is one of the most gifted literary storytellers alive…. [Atonement] implants in the memory a living, flaming presence.”

—James Wood, The New Republic

“[McEwan’s] best novel so far…. It will break your heart.”

— The Star (Toronto)

“A masterpiece of moral inquiry…. Beautiful and wrenching.”

— New York

“A first-rate novel on any scale…. Few, if any, novelists writing today match McEwan in ingenuity and plotting, and those skills are demonstrated best in this, his most expansive and ambitious book.”

— Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Magnificent…. Memorable…. Suspenseful…. McEwan forces his readers to turn the pages with greater dread and anticipation than does perhaps any other ‘literary’ writer working in English today.”

—Claire Messud, The Atlantic Monthly

“The extraordinary range of Atonement suggests that there’s nothing McEwan can’t do.”

— The Christian Science Monitor

“Magically readable…. Never has McEwan shown himself to be more in sympathy with the vulnerability of the human heart.”

— Sunday Times (London)

“Magnificent…. Suspenseful, psychologically astute and intellectually bracing.”

— Newsday

“Not since the 19 ^TH century has a writer stepped in and out of his characters’ minds with such unfettered confidence.”

— The Plain Dealer

“Extraordinary…. Powerful … at once strange and shattering and sublime…. The finest book yet by a writer of prodigious skills…. McEwan writes with abundant authority…. [He] has … told a story that reaffirms in every syllable our need for storytelling and its own transformative power…. It has passages so powerful and beautiful they make the heart race…. McEwan is building a mighty edifice that will stand for many years.”

—Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World

“A masterwork, a novel of artistry, power and truth that puts it among the most extraordinary works of fiction of the last decade…. Reading this book is an experience to remember—and savor. I found every page riveting. It is, quite simply, magnificent—a masterpiece.”

—Michael Pakenham, The Baltimore Sun

“Thoroughly convincing…. Memorable…. The book’s battle scenes are some of the most vivid and disturbing in recent memory. And the depiction of English country life, with all its hypocrisy, is worthy of E. M. Forster or, for that matter, Jane Austen.”

— The Oregonian

“Magical…. A love story, a war story, and a story about stories, and so it hits the heart, the guts and the brain…. McEwan is eerily convincing. When he’s writing at his best, he’s invisible; and he’s never less than elegant and precise…. Atonement is the work of a novelist at peak power.”

— The New York Observer

“Luminous…. McEwan’s writing has often made me blink, but never before blink with emotion…. [McEwan] is at one with his talent.”

—Robert Cremins, Houston Chronicle

“Atonement can’t be laid down once it’s been picked up…. McEwan writes like an angel and plots like a demon…. He can write rings around most others writing in English today.”

— The Weekly Standard