Atonement
by Ian McEwan
★ Top 10 book of 2001 · #8 on Best Books of 2001
A young girl from a wealthy family makes a half-innocent mistake that wrecks lives, and the story follows her adulthood in its shadow. Spanning 1935, wartime England and France, and the present, it also reflects on what writing means.
Best for: Readers who enjoy award-shortlisted, reflective novels that explore guilt and the craft of writing
Atonement is #8 on BookWard's Best Books of 2001, out of 35 2001 books that cleared our data bar.
What Atonement is about
On a hot summer day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis, a girl who loves to write, is at her family's country house with her older sister Cecilia and Robbie Turner, the housekeeper's son whose schooling the family paid for. Visiting cousins and a friend of her brother's bring new tension to the house, and a misdelivered note leaves Briony holding information she is too young to understand. She draws a conclusion that will shape many lives.
McEwan follows the fallout across three periods: that fateful summer, wartime England and France, and the present day. Beneath the story sits a question about what a writer owes the people she writes about, and how far imagination can go toward repairing real harm. Readers who like moral weight in their fiction will find a lot to turn over here.
Atonement on the Best Books of 2001
Atonement came out in 2001. Of the 35 books first published in 2001 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #8 on our Best Books of 2001 list.
Why it made the list: 715 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.7 out of 5 (49 ratings); 24 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2001 list
- Unbroken Laura Hillenbrand, #6
- Deception Point Dan Brown, #7
- Baby Einstein Julie Aigner-Clark, #9
- Violets Are Blue James Patterson, #10
See all Best Books of 2001 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2000 Best Books of 2002.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 617 want to read it, 24 are reading it now and 74 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 3.7 out of 5 from 49 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 89 | 55% |
| Reader love | 29 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 83 | 20% |
Questions about Atonement
When was Atonement published?
Atonement by Ian McEwan was first published in 2001.
Was Atonement one of the best books of 2001?
Atonement is #8 on BookWard's Best Books of 2001, out of 35 2001 books that cleared our data bar. 715 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.7 out of 5 (49 ratings); 24 are reading it right now.
Why is Atonement on the Best Books of 2001 list?
715 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.7 out of 5 (49 ratings); 24 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2001
- American Gods Neil Gaiman, #1
- Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time Brian Tracy, #2
- Crucial Conversations Kerry Patterson, #3
- Point Blanc Anthony Horowitz, #4
- Getting Things Done David Allen, #5
- Unbroken Laura Hillenbrand, #6
See the full Best Books of 2001, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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