Atonement (2001)
0.1573Canon Score · ranked #136 all time
Aggregated from 8 of 14 authoritative lists, weighted by authority and adjusted for each list's scope and age. How scoring works →
About the book
Atonement is a 2001 British metafiction novel written by Ian McEwan. Set in three time periods, 1935 England, Second World War England and France, and present-day England, it covers an upper-class girl's half-innocent mistake that ruins lives, her adulthood in the shadow of that mistake, and a reflection on the nature of writing.
Why it ranks #136
Every list on which Atonement appears, with its position as published.
| List | Authority | Position |
|---|---|---|
| BBC Big Read Top 200 (2003) | Editorial list | #154 / 200 |
| OCLC/WorldCat Top 500 Novels (2019) | Editorial list | #298 / 500 |
| NYT 100 Best Books of 21st C (2024) | Major international poll | Selected |
| Guardian 1000 Novels (2009) | Critics' canon | Selected |
| 1001 Books You Must Read (union) | Critics' canon | Selected |
| Observer 100 Greatest Novels (2003) | Editorial list | Selected |
| Vulture 21st Century Canon (2018) | Editorial list | Selected |
| Telegraph 100 Novels (2009) | Editorial list | Selected |