Roland is musically and emotionally precocious and is seduced by his piano teacher. At this point Ian’s and Roland’s lives start to diverge. Baines has some things in common with McEwan: he was born in 1948 his father was a working-class man who rose up through the ranks of the army his mother was overly protective and hid a secret and he attended an unconventional boarding school. It is the story of one man, Roland Baines, an unremarkable, remarkable man. I’ve read most of McEwan’s books but at the age of 74, he has, with Lessons, produced what I think is the highlight of his career. Other people argue that writers produce their best work towards the middle of their career. Certainly, people were divided about Machines Like Me but I thought it adventurous, bold. Often the response I received was along the lines of, ‘I used to read McEwan but the last books haven’t done it for me’. I read Lessons back in June and couldn’t stop telling people about it. One of the perks of being a bookseller is that you’re able to read books long before they are published.
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