Most people have already heard of Ian McEwan's presumable masterpiece Atonement, but many of his other novels have remained underrated ever since. On Chesil Beach is a simple love story about two opposing souls - but it is no love story in a typical way. In this short book, Ian McEwan reverses the love story and tells it backwards from their wedding night, allowing those events described to find a climax which might take them into a future with each other or separate them forever. 
 In the beginning, Edward and Florence prepare each other for their wedding night. It is the year 1962; a time when talking about sexuality was not as easy and natural as it would be fifty years later. Both Edward and Florence are virgins; however, Florence believes Edward to be experienced with other women, and Edward doesn't know about Florence's anxiety to even think of sexual relationships, of the disgusting feeling which builds in her stomach whenever her thoughts wander off to this night she fears so much. It is a simple premise, a fact which keeps this book from becoming as interesting and masterful as the complex Atonement, yet a premise intriguing enough for me to become interested in the characters. And interesting and complex they were indeed. 
 Ian McEwan's prose is beautiful as ever in this novella. He belongs to those writers you only have to read a few sentences from and immediately know they have been written by him. There is something powerful behind the words he chooses, something that makes you care for the characters even if it is sometimes difficult to understand their motivations. This simple story is able to say so much about human nature: how it is mandatory to talk to each other honestly about one's fears and feelings, because remaining silent could almost never lead into a happy future. 
 Over the course of 200 pages, Ian McEwan spends one fateful evening with his two main characters and their wedding night, yet the only time this book feels boring is when pages and pages of background information are inserted, something which would not have been necessary, considering the precision the characters have already been developed with. But who if not Ian McEwan could have been able to talk about a wedding night for 200 pages and never make it appear senseless or as if he went rambling? 
 Overall, my third McEwan novel proved to be a surprisingly interesting and insightful read, though while a lot better than The Innocent, not as complex and stunning as Atonement. Recommended for everyone interested in a convincing, yet not perfect love story written by a male author, although it may not be the best novel to start with if you want to get into McEwan's writing.