Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach

On Chesil Beach is an exquisitely delicate and devastating tale centered on love in all its various complex forms, battling against concerns of growing up, different kinds of relationships and sex, all against the backdrop of the class and social structure in 1960’s England. This novel is the most recent in a long line from the bestselling, Booker Prize winning author, Ian McEwan, who brought us such pieces as Atonement and Enduring Love and who here brings the awkward, immature relationship of Edward Mayhew and Florence Ponting to breaking-point on their wedding night.

This is a beautiful handling of a tense, emotionally-wrought story. Poised between shocking bluntness and sharp comic moments, McEwan explores the nature of sex in marriage, presenting us with the wholly discordant perspectives of the newlyweds. Edward, an eager young history graduate from a rural background meets Florence, a shy, timid daughter of aristocratic parents, extremely passionate about classical music. Their romance blossoms and they find themselves on their honeymoon on the Dorset coast. Instead of elation, however, the couple are filled with anxiety, both for very different reasons. As their first night as man and wife approaches, this anxiety explodes with overwhelming repercussions.

Narrated chronologically out of sync and abounding in numerous digressions, McEwan’s craft in this book is superb. The tension is intensified as the reader becomes tantalizingly close to discovering whether the couple will or will not consummate their marriage, only to be dragged away. That factor, along with the shortness of the book, makes for a quick, tense read appropriate to the nature of Edward and Florence’s relationship.

The novel reveals a capacity for characterization is unrivaled in modern fiction. You cannot help but to be engrossed into the lives of Edward and Florence, with agonizing intensity.

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