On Chesil Beach

On Chesil Beach is a 2007 novella by the British writer Ian McEwan. It was selected for the 2007 Booker Prize shortlist. The Washington Post and Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic Jonathan Yardley placed On Chesil Beach on his top ten for 2007, praising McEwan's writing and saying that "even when he's in a minor mode, as he is here, he is nothing short of amazing". Plot summary In July 1962, Edward Mayhew, a graduate student of history, and Florence Ponting, a violinist in a string quartet, are spending their honeymoon in a small hotel on the Dorset seashore, at Chesil Beach. The two are very much in love despite being from drastically different backgrounds. During the course of an evening, the couple reflect upon their upbringing and future prospects. Edward is sexually motivated and has a taste for rash behaviour. Florence is bound by the social code of another era and, perhaps having been sexually abused by her father, is terrified of sexual intimacy. She tries to mentally prepare herself for the inevitable consummation, but the thought continues to repel her.