Play Book Tag discussion

On Chesil Beach follows Edward and Florence, a young English couple on their wedding night in 1962. Set mostly in a quiet hotel near the stony stretch of Chesil Beach, the story unfolds through a mix of present awkwardness and flashbacks to their earlier courtship. While they clearly love each other, their very different backgrounds and unspoken anxieties — especially around sex — begin to surface. Florence is terrified of physical intimacy, while Edward is eager and emotionally charged. Their failure to communicate in this crucial moment leads to a painful and permanent rift. It’s a quiet, deeply introspective novel about how much can hinge on what’s left unsaid. The characters feel real, and the tension between them is painfully believable. That said, the book is very quiet and slow-moving, and the narrow focus on a single night might leave some readers feeling like not much actually happens. It’s thoughtful and sad, but not especially gripping. Worth reading for the writing and emotional depth, but it doesn’t quite hit the highs of McEwan’s best work.

I had similar feelings about this one - McEwan's writing is always great but this isn't his best.

I liked it a bit more than you did, perhaps because my F2F book club discussed it.