Genre:
Psychological Fiction, Realistic Fiction, International

Summary:
Edward and Florence are newlyweds in July 1962 when they reach their honeymoon destination – a beachfront hotel on the Dorset coast.

The two are flushed and excited from their recent marriage. But the air is thick with trepidation as their minds flood with thoughts of the night ahead.

Edward worries about his lack of sexual experience, while Florence wonders how their chaste relationship will make the leap to physical intimacy.

As the two struggle to work out their thoughts – and reminisce about their courtship – consummation looms ominously ahead and neither seem quite prepared for what happens next.

My Thoughts:
I had a hard time with this novel, not because it wasn’t sufficiently interesting or suspenseful, but possibly because it was too short and yet overly descriptive all at once. There is a lot of information to absorb in such a deceptively slim 166 page novel!

At the same time, it’s one of those novels I couldn’t put down. Ian McEwan takes the human experience, and all of its ironies and incoherencies, and successful transcribes them into paper form.

To Edward, Florence is at once elusive and impenetrable. To the reader, she is almost painfully translucent. I could not help but relate to Florence on some levels. Bound by convention and her own rigidity, Florence is ill prepared for the night that awaits her. But it is Edward too who must come to terms with his own inhibitions.

Borrow On Chesil Beach from your local Vaughan Library today!