11/08/13: Ian McEwan – On Chesil Beach (2007)

Edward Mayhew and Florence Ponting have just been married and are honeymooning in a hotel at Chesil Beach, Dorset, in 1962. But on their first night together they are separated by class and expectations, and the physical consummation that Edward so craves is repellent to Florence.

How this very English scenario plays out – and the events that led up to this evening, and those that lead away from it – are played out in McEwan's ultra-focused, almost clinically precise prose over 166 pages. It's compelling stuff.