Ian McEwan is one of the authors of the “ruling triumvirate” of modern British prose (along with Julian Barnes and Martin Amis), winner of the Booker Prize for his novel Amsterdam. His latest book, On the Shore, was also shortlisted for the Booker. It is, as the critic puts it, “a poignant, albeit intimate, story of missed opportunities in the era before the sexual revolution.” The main events take place between Edward Mayhew and Florence Ponting on their wedding night, and the newlyweds are united only by the same inexperience, both remember their past lives and fear the future.