Staff Pick
With an ingenious plot and unique narrator, this tale of murder and treachery is told from the viewpoint of a fetus — the yet-unborn Hamlet, witness to the conversations and unsavory dealings of those around him. A cleverly imaginative take on Shakespeare’s character, this darkly humorous and skillfully crafted novel reaffirms McEwan as one of the finest writers today. Recommended By Michal D., Powells.com
What an odd content departure for Ian McEwen with this story of a fetus! The baby narrator is extremely alert, wise, and sarcastic well beyond his nine months. Horrified to discover that his mother and uncle are plotting to murder his father, the baby is suddenly very concerned about his father's future, and his own, as well. In typical McEwen style, there are a couple of twists thrown in, and a doozy of an ending. Exploring themes of greed, love gone wrong, parenting failures, literature, and infidelity, McEwan writes a quick, suspenseful read that is as quirky as they come. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
A New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book
One of the Best Books of the Year: San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Oprah.com
Trudy has been unfaithful to her husband, John. What’s more, she has kicked him out of their marital home, a valuable old London town house, and in his place is his own brother, the profoundly banal Claude. The illicit couple have hatched a scheme to rid themselves of her inconvenient husband forever. But there is a witness to their plot: the inquisitive, nine-month-old resident of Trudy’s womb.
As Trudy’s unborn son listens, bound within her body, to his mother and his uncle’s murderous plans, he gives us a truly new perspective on our world, seen from the confines of his. McEwan’s brilliant recasting of Shakespeare lends new weight to the age-old question of Hamlet’s hesitation, and is a tour de force of storytelling.
Review
"Nutshell is an orb, a Venetian glass paperweight of a book.... It is a consciously late, deliberately elegiac masterpiece, a calling together of everything McEwan has learned and knows about his art." The Guardian (London)
Review
"Gorgeous.... Offer[s] the reader a voice both distinctive and engaging.... Rife with wordplay, social commentary, hilarity, and suspense.... Hats off to Ian McEwan." The Boston Globe
Review
"Compact, captivating... The writing is lean and muscular, often relentlessly gorgeous." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Nutshell is a joy: unexpected, self-aware, and pleasantly dense with plays on Shakespeare." NPR
Review
"Fantastically entertaining and frequently hilarious." San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"More brilliant than it has any right to be.... Suspenseful, dazzlingly clever and gravely profound." The Washington Post
Review
"Smart, funny and utterly captivating." The New York Times
Synopsis
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - "Suspenseful, dazzlingly clever and gravely profound" (The Washington Post), a book that brilliantly recasts Shakespeare and lends new weight to the age-old question of Hamlet's hesitation.
Trudy has been unfaithful to her husband, John. What's more, she has kicked him out of their marital home, a valuable old London town house, and in his place is his own brother, the profoundly banal Claude. The illicit couple have hatched a scheme to rid themselves of her inconvenient husband forever. But there is a witness to their plot: the inquisitive, nine-month-old resident of Trudy's womb.
As Trudy's unborn son listens, bound within her body, to his mother and his uncle's murderous plans, he gives us a truly new perspective on our world, seen from the confines of his.
Synopsis
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - A "suspenseful, dazzlingly clever and gravely profound" (The Washington Post) novel that brilliantly recasts Shakespeare and lends new weight to the age-old question of Hamlet's hesitation, from the Booker Prize winner and bestselling author of Atonement.
Trudy has been unfaithful to her husband, John. What's more, she has kicked him out of their marital home, a valuable old London town house, and in his place is his own brother, the profoundly banal Claude. The illicit couple have hatched a scheme to rid themselves of her inconvenient husband forever. But there is a witness to their plot: the inquisitive, nine-month-old resident of Trudy's womb.
As Trudy's unborn son listens, bound within her body, to his mother and his uncle's murderous plans, he gives us a truly new perspective on our world, seen from the confines of his.
Don't miss Ian McEwan's new novel, Lessons, coming in September
About the Author
Ian McEwan is the bestselling author of sixteen books, including the novels The Children Act; Sweet Tooth; Solar, winner of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize; On Chesil Beach; Saturday; Atonement, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the W. H. Smith Literary Award; The Comfort of Strangers and Black Dogs, both short-listed for the Booker Prize; Amsterdam, winner of the Booker Prize; and The Child in Time, winner of the Whitbread Award; as well as the story collections First Love, Last Rites, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and In Between the Sheets.