Not his best work.. was hard to stay awake, The end of the book still left a lot of questions unanswered. He again spends too much time on things not needed to tell the stoty.. He would make a good painter if he ever tried to trade talents.. He tries to paint one in your mind. But like a painting, you look at it and wonder "what was the artist thinking". He can describe a countryside, village, home, with impecable detail and you feel you could walk into any of these place and know exactly where you were from his description. Yet, the point of a story??? Where is it going? why? I have read all Mr. Mcewan's books and this one is my least favorite. Just my opinion. Read it for yourself. You may love it.