700. The Cement Garden

The Cement Garden
Ian McEwan
1978

Around 140 pages

700! Now we are officially entering the home stretch, and rounding off with some of my favorite novels of all time. This is the era of John Irving, Ian McEwan, and Douglas Adams. What a time to be alive!

Four children want to keep their mother's recent death a secret, as they have already lost their father and don't want to end up in foster care. They encase her body in concrete in the basement and attempt to live on their own. This involves the older two siblings, Jack and Julie, filling in as mother and father, if you catch my drift.

Ian McEwan is a favorite author of mine. I wouldn't call this his masterpiece, but all of his novels are brilliant and built on a fascinating premise. This is a disturbing read that I'm sure would make King and Poe proud. 

Some of the authors of our "shocking" reads are so eager to unsettle us, that you can practically sense the desperation, but I never get that feeling with McEwan. There is something about his prose that is very calm, even when he is dwelling on distasteful.

Happy to have you on the roster Ian!

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into a film in 1993.

Several critics suggested that the plot bore a close resemblance to Julian Gloag's Our Mother's House. McEwan denied having read that work and no formal charges of plagiarism were filed.

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