I have actually never read anything by Ian
McEwan at this point. I have seen his name pop up on many lists with great
reviews so I figured I would give this one a shot. The book follows Fiona
Maye a High Court Judge in London who presides over family court matters.
In the book opening we get a quick look into Fiona’s marriage to Jack,
she is fighting with him over wanting to have an affair, but also wanting her
to have an affair. Jack claims that Fiona has been distance to him and
not opening up about what is going on with her. While Jack and Fiona are
fighting she begins to focus on the court case in front of her that she is
handing down her decision in the morning. She is reading through her
legal decision when Jack finally leaves the apartment to be with the other
women; in my mind showing that she is truly distanced herself from the
marriage.
Fiona’s first reaction is to have the locks
changed immediately although she knows this is not legal This is where
the character of Fiona really begins to take off in my mind you can see that
she thinks things through very logically on her court cases from the opening,
but spurr of the moment changes the locks. It make Fiona human and
someone that the reader can relate too.
Fiona is brought a case about Adam who is 17
years old and just shy of his 18th birthday. Adam is a Jehovah’s Witness
who does not believe in blood transfusion, but needs this life saving procedure
to be done to help with his Leukemia. Since his family and him are
refusing treatment at the hospital the hospital brings the case to Fiona.
Fiona is taken with the case I believe due to the fact that she is
fighting with Jack and doesn’t want to face him so she goes to see Adam in the
hospital to get his true feelings.
Adam is a very intelligent boy who does know
about life and also his religious beliefs. Fiona determines that he does
not know the true ramifications for his disease and orders the blood
transfusion. Adam then begins reaching out to her via letters to thank
her as well as wanting to talk. He takes it so far as to follow her to a
meeting at a hotel. They end up kissing on the lips for a second, but
this part sticks out as odd to me and sort of off I thought he was looking at
her as a mother figure not a romantic figure. Fiona learns at the end
that Adam got leukemia again and refused the treatment eventually killing him.
Fiona refers to it as his suicide.
The book is a fast read and one that I could not
put down. I don’t feel like we got a complete answer on the Jack and
Fiona relationship, it seems like there were more issues and with the book
following Fiona’s thoughts it was more challenging to see the underlying fight
between Jack and Fiona. It seems that another case prior to this one
might have set her off or the lack of children or her age or retirement soon,
one will never know the true issues. I personally did not know
about Jehovah’s Witnesses that much and to learn about not allowing blood
transfusions was interesting. I also googled bloodless surgery as it
seems that would be a very safe alternative in most situations. It was an
interesting read that made me think about making sure you don’t let fights boil
to much or they will explode. To keep things in a relationship open even
if you are having not just a bad day but year. Also,when someone reaches
out to you for help you should always listen as you never know if that is the last
time they will ask for help. Asking for help also comes in all shapes and
sizes. This book hits on several large issues about relationships, as
well as religion and should not be taken lightly.
I would suggest reading this when you are in an
open state of mind. A main piece that comes across is the
importance of openness in longer term relationships. I would probably not
read this book again but I would read more by Ian Mcewan.
My rating 4/5
Author website
http://www.ianmcewan.com/
Publisher
Nan A. Talese
ISBN 9780385539708
Length 240
Format hardback
