“A shift or a strengthening of the wind brought them the sound of wavelets breaking on the shore below, like a distant shattering of glasses. The mist was lifting to reveal dense trees and foliage curving away above the shoreline to the east. They could see a luminous gray smoothness between the boughs and leaves which might have been the silky surface of the sea itself, or the lagoon, or the sky—it was difficult to tell. The altered breeze carried through the parted French windows an enticement, a salty scent of oxygen and open space that seemed at odds with the starched table linen, the corn-flour-stiffened gravy, and the heavy polished silver they were taking in their hands. The wedding lunch had been huge and prolonged. They were not hungry.” – On Chesil Beach.
Here’s a first look at the Ian McEwan (Atonement) adaptation of ON CHESIL BEACH, directed by Dominic Cooke and starring Billy Howle (The Sense Of An Ending, The Seagull) and Academy Award-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn, The Lovely Bones).
It is July 1962. Their marriage, they believe, will bring them happiness, the confidence and the freedom to fulfill their true destinies. The glowing promise of the future, however, cannot totally mask their worries about the wedding night. Edward, who has had little experience with women, frets about his sexual prowess. Florence’s anxieties run deeper: she is overcome by conflicting emotions and a fear of the moment she will surrender herself.
Rocket Science is handling international sales at the Berlin EFM. The movie also stars Anne-Marie Duff, Emily Watson, and Samuel West.
Read an excerpt published in The New Yorker magazine December 2006 HERE. The novel was selected for the 2007 Booker Prize shortlist. In 2008, The Times featured McEwan on their list of “The 50 greatest British writers since 1945”, and also in 2008 The Daily Telegraph ranked him number 19 in their list of the “100 most powerful people in British culture”.
For more on McEwan’s amazing book, check out the reading guide here.
