Lessons - Ian McEwan

 Lessons - Ian McEwan

Release Date: Sept. 13, 2022

She read

At age 11, Roland Baines is sent from his home to boarding school where his relationship with a piano tutor shapes his entire life. We follow him through the birth of his son, the desertion of his first wife, family relationships and secrets, the deaths of his second wife as well as key family members, and eventually his old age. As his somewhat uninspiring and uneasy life unfolds, McEwan chronicles global political and cultural events and the reader sees how some of them may affect our lives while others occur without touching us. 

The adjective that most comes to mind in thinking about this book (and there is a lot to think about) is sprawling.  It is at times melancholic, disturbing, reflective,  tranquil, hopeful. It also explores the affects of pedophilia on a developing child’s psyche as well as lifelong after effects.

Lessons is a rich, ambitious story; I have only touched upon selected portions in this brief review.  There is so much more that is included: the White Rose movement in Nazi Germany, the literary process and what is needed to be successful, the inevitable aging process. It is the journey of an entire generation. 

Thanks to #netgalley and Knopf Doubleday for the ARC.

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