Listen to a sample
Lessons
- Author
- Ian McEwan
- Narrator
- Simon McBurney
- Publisher
- Random House
- Publish Date
- 13 September 2022
- Run Time
- 17 hours 34 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Historical fiction, Family life fiction / Stories about family, Narrative theme: love / relationships, Narrative theme: death, grief, loss, Narrative theme: politics / economics, Second World War fiction, Narrative theme: social issues / social problems, Narrative theme: interior life / psychological fiction
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What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
The mesmerising new novel from Ian McEwan, the bestselling author of Atonement. The world is forever changing. But for so many of us, old wounds run deep. Lessons is an intimate yet universal story of love, regret and a restless search for answers.
While the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has descended, young Roland Baines's life is turned upside down. Stranded at boarding school, his vulnerability attracts his piano teacher, Miriam Cornell, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade.
Twenty-five years later, as the radiation from the Chernobyl disaster spreads across Europe, Roland's wife mysteriously vanishes and he is forced to confront the reality of his rootless existence and look for answers in his family history.
From the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Covid pandemic and climate change, Roland sometimes rides with the tide of history but more often struggles against it. Haunted by lost opportunities, he seeks solace through every possible means - literature, travel, friendship, drugs, politics, sex and love.
His journey raises important questions. Can we take full charge of the course of our lives without damage to others? How do global events beyond our control shape us and our memories? What role do chance and contingency play in our existence? And what can we learn from the traumas of the past?
'The supreme novelist of his generation' Sunday Times
'McEwan is one of the most accomplished craftsmen of plot and prose' New York Times
'A true master' Daily Telegraph
© Ian McEwan 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022
Critics Review
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Lessons is easily McEwan's most accomplished novel since Atonement... he offers intelligent reflection on his novel's evergreen themes.
The Times
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I loved Lessons... Deep, life-affirming and A-grade storytelling.
The Times
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Thoughtful, tender and both universal and timeless in its depiction of the follies of the human heart... Ian McEwan is a masterful storyteller who weaves destiny and self-determination, the past and the future, youth and age, and above all, the loss and memory of love.
Elif Shafak
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Captures youthful lust and late-age regret with equal power.
Financial Times
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Superb... another mesmerising, memorable novel.
Independent
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Irresistible and a joy to read.
Spectator, Books of the Year
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McEwan's writing is as elegant and ideas-packed as ever.
The Times
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Elegant and moving, it's his best work in 20 years.
Sunday Times, *Summer Reads of 2023*
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McEwan returns with his best work since the Booker- and NBCC-winning Atonement...Throughout, McEwan poignantly shows how the characters contend with major historical moments while dealing with the ravages of daily life, which is what makes this so affecting. He also employs lyrical but pared-down prose to great effect . . . Once more, the masterly McEwan delights.
Publishers Weekly [starred review]
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McEwan deftly explores the interplay of will and chance, time and memory.
Washington Post
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Ian McEwan
- Narrator
- Simon McBurney
- Duration
- 17 hours 34 minutes
- Release Date
- 13 September 2022
- ISBN
- 9781529194432
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Historical fiction, Family life fiction / Stories about family, Narrative theme: love / relationships, Narrative theme: death, grief, loss, Narrative theme: politics / economics, Second World War fiction, Narrative theme: social issues / social problems, Narrative theme: interior life / psychological fiction
Synopsis
Brought to you by Penguin.The mesmerising new novel from Ian McEwan, the bestselling author of Atonement. The world is forever changing. But for so many of us, old wounds run deep. Lessons is an intimate yet universal story of love, regret and a restless search for answers.While the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has descended, young Roland Baines's life is turned upside down. Stranded at boarding school, his vulnerability attracts his piano teacher, Miriam Cornell, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade. Twenty-five years later, as the radiation from the Chernobyl disaster spreads across Europe, Roland's wife mysteriously vanishes and he is forced to confront the reality of his rootless existence and look for answers in his family history. From the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Covid pandemic and climate change, Roland sometimes rides with the tide of history but more often struggles against it. Haunted by lost opportunities, he seeks solace through every possible means - literature, travel, friendship, drugs, politics, sex and love. His journey raises important questions. Can we take full charge of the course of our lives without damage to others? How do global events beyond our control shape us and our memories? What role do chance and contingency play in our existence? And what can we learn from the traumas of the past?'The supreme novelist of his generation' Sunday Times'McEwan is one of the most accomplished craftsmen of plot and prose' New York Times'A true master' Daily Telegraph© Ian McEwan 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022
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