A New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book One of the Best Books of the Year San Francisco Chronicle NPR Minneapolis Star Tribune Oprah.com Trudy has been unfaithful to her husband John. Whats more she has kicked him out of their marital home a valuable old London town house and in his place is his own brother the profoundly banal Claude. The illicit couple have hatched a scheme to rid themselves of her inconvenient husband forever. But there is a witness to their plot the inquisitive ninemonthold resident of Trudys womb. As Trudys unborn son listens bound within her body to his mother and his uncles murderous plans he gives us a truly new perspective on our world seen from the confines of his. McEwans brilliant recasting of Shakespeare lends new weight to the ageold question of Hamlets hesitation and is a tour de force of storytelling. show more