Comments (31)

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Nov 26, 2022kennethek rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
McEwan very nicely juggles a number of balls here within the life of a British family court judge; a life and death moral issue; poetry and music; following a caring, sensitive, intelligent person deals with marital crisis, Most critics…
Jul 11, 2022staffomr rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Good book about Judges, courts and their need to stay objective. Fiona is great at compartmentalizing her life from her work, but that all goes awry when she decides to talk, in person, in the hospital, to a dying 17-year-old who is…
Jun 24, 2022GillianAlice rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
Dry, dull, and full of awful people.
Feb 11, 2022Walter724 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
The book is equally as good as the movie! Some of the dialogue in the movie is taken directly from the book. This is well written, and thought provoking. It's a good read for sure!
Aug 21, 2020
Very glad I read this book!
Feb 03, 2020
Reading this short novel's intelligent prose and succinctly crafted plot is similar to watching a master at chess - each movement is carefully considered, studied and made with intent. The seemingly simple story - a marriage falling apart,…
Feb 12, 2019mclarjh rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Very good writing, but the protagonist and story are a bit clinical.
jr3083
Dec 28, 2018jr3083 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Like On Chesil Beach which preceded it, this book is quite short and has a similar tremulous, sinking, hold-your-breath feeling about it. It is named for the UK legislation of 1989 the Children Act which rules that “When a court determines…
Dec 07, 2018
A stunning narrative of one woman's journey into self-how her professional life converges with the personal, more importantly for me, how the unconscious dictates choices we make and the resultant consequences of those choices.
Nov 11, 2018beetlebaily rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Excellent book. Story of a Judge facing her own personal problems but who has to deal with family court cases involving really serious family issues. Good portrayal of the difficulties of applying the law to deeply complex human problems…
Sep 22, 2018ontherideau rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Intelligent and deeply important
Aug 19, 2018DorisWaggoner rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
The first part is slow going and depressing. Childless middle aged Fiona seems self-absorbed and way too proud of her status as a judge. Jack, asking her permission to have an affair, seems barely worthy of her. The details of the court…
Jan 14, 2016Dee46 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Very thought provoking about moral issues. Well written and absorbing.
Jan 01, 2016empbee rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Interesting diatribes of the health decision of young adults, the influence of adults. Well written as usual. I found the marital parallel story is a bit artificial, as well as the part of the young boy following the judge outside of…
Aug 28, 2015patcumming rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This is a highly thought provoking book that presents a number of moral dilemmas. Fiona is an multi-faceted character and the layers of ambiguity make this a good choice for Book Clubs.
Jul 02, 2015GLNovak rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I quite liked the spare writing in this little book. Fiona Maye is a leading high court judge handling cases in the family court. She has many years experience and is now asked to pronounce on an urgent case. After careful consideration…
Jun 22, 2015Catmamakim rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This turned out to be a page-turner for me and I found the writing to be intelligent and morallly stimulating. I was somewhat disappointed by the ending which I found to be anti-climactic but this did not reduce the quality of the read…
brianreynolds
Jun 07, 2015brianreynolds rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Not a big fan of Atonement, I was pleasantly surprised to find McEwan's The Children Act a delightfully delicate adventure into the dilemma of personal and social responsibility. With a careful brushstroke, he dispassionately paints the…
May 19, 2015retiring_rep rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Wow! This novel will get you thinking about many important issues and the consequences of the choices regarding these issues. The ending will linger and not be forgotten.
Feb 15, 2015nannerl rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Very enjoyable little novel, written more like a short story.
Feb 07, 2015
A judge in Family Court must rule on the case of a 17-year-old boy whose family refuses transfusions on religious grounds. At the same time her own married life takes a bad turn when her husband announces he wants an affair. You must like…
Jan 17, 2015
People are so self important that they want to describe the whole novel to everyone.......and ruin the story for us all. Get a grip! STOP THIS. I loved this novel. It has depth of feeling. McEwan is mostly always good.
manoush
Jan 14, 2015
This slim novel is a haunting portrait of a respectable female judge approaching 60 whose well-ordered life is thrown into turmoil after an encounter with a brilliant teenager. Fiona Maye must render judgment on the teenager's case; he…
Dec 18, 2014gloryb rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
This novel reads like a longish short story. It's only 217 pages long and in it the author recounts what a day in the life of a high court judge in England might be like. I scanned these pages, pages of her judgement which included what…
Dec 17, 2014BLACKSQUIRREL_1 rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
it would've been better if more of the facts had been accurate--it was fiction, but....