What is On Chesil Beach about?
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
The #1 bestselling author of Saturday and Atonement brilliantly illuminates the collision of sexual longing, deep-seated fears and romantic fantasy in his unforgettable, emotionally engaging novel.
The year is 1962. Florence, the daughter of a successful businessman and an aloof Oxford academic, is a talented violinist. She dreams of a career on the concert stage and of the perfect life she will create with Edward, the earnest young history student she met by chance and who unexpectedly wooed her and won her heart. Edward grew up in the country on the outskirts of Oxford where his father, the headmaster of the local school, struggled to keep the household together and his mother, brain-damaged from an accident, drifted in a world of her own. Edward’s native intelligence, coupled with a longing to experience the excitement and intellectual fervour of the city, had taken him to University College in London. Falling in love with the accomplished, shy and sensitive Florence—and having his affections returned with equal intensity—has utterly changed his life.
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.
From the precise and intimate depiction of two young lovers eager to rise above the hurts and confusion of the past, to the touching story of how their unexpressed misunderstandings and fears shape the rest of their lives, On Chesil Beach is an extraordinary novel that brilliantly, movingly shows us how the entire course of a life can be changed—by a gesture not made or a word not spoken.
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
On Chesil Beach is available as hardcover(ISBN 9780676978810) and hardcover(ISBN 9780739327265) and hardcover(ISBN 9780385522403) and paperback(ISBN 9780676978827) and paperback(ISBN 9780735276802) and paperback(ISBN 9780525564669) and paperback(ISBN 9780307386175) and ebook(ISBN 9780307371218) and ebook(ISBN 9780307455826) and ebook(ISBN 9780385523059) and audiobook(ISBN 9781415938799) and audiostreaming(ISBN 9781415938812) and audiostreaming(ISBN 9780739343722) and audiodisc(ISBN 9781415938805) and audiodisc(ISBN 9780739343715)