It just wasn't that good.

It was a nice, easy read, nothing much to get too excited over. I suppose the one thing it did make me think about is the moral component of the application of the law, which was interesting. The ending wasn't very satisfying.

I found this novel surprisingly affecting, despite the sometimes detached and clinical writing through much of the book. While the opening chapters are almost too well written (they dazzle and blind and I had to stop reading frequently to catch a breath, sometimes having to reread to follow the story), the latter half seems to take on Fiona's single-minded focus and we lose the warmth that drew us in at the start. Possibly intentional, I'm no critic. Overall I admired rather than enjoyed this but will read more by McEwan in the future.

Is this book really ten years old? God, I feel like it came out about 5 minutes ago! Anyway, it's a very intense book, detailing a judge getting too involved with a difficult case, pushed by her own sadness. The blurring of personal and professional is very believable and the author does an impressive job laying out the difficult ethical choices involved at every stage.

guardian article: the novel.

Good stuff! Oh dear that's 3 McEwan's in a year!

The central character, Fiona, is a High Court judge who thought that she was happily married to her academic husband. It’s obvious that work dominates her life and now aged 59, she’s very successful professionally. Fiona’s angry and surprised when her husband tells her that he’d like an extra-marital relationship, but she cannot take a break from work to devote time and energy to this problem. Her job is demanding and many of her cases in Family Courts involve major moral dilemmas. One in particular involves a young man who’s been brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness; his faith prevents him from accepting a potentially life-saving blood transfusion. These dual threads run through the book.

McEwan writes superbly and has clearly researched very thoroughly. There are fascinating details of court cases that Fiona has to deal with that give a real insight to the unenviable pressures and demands of her job. The tensions in the marriage were all very believable as is the case involving the young man. However, at times, this is just too wordy for me, particularly in the first half of the book. There is a lot of explanation and description and rather less dialogue or thoughts. For me, this makes it difficult to really get under the skin of the main characters or to fully empathise with them. Well worth reading though.

A beautifully told and very sad story. Elegant writing. Presented the often occurring contrast between professional and home life.