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Set 100 years in the future at a time when the United Kingdom has been reduced to an archipelago, this intriguing book follows Tom, a humanities professor, as he recreates the life of 21st century poet Francis Blundy and searches for his lost masterpiece, the poem "A Corona for Vivien." Tom is half in love with his idea of Vivien, Blundy's wife, but ultimately comes to understand: the documented details of a life don't always add up to the truth.

I can know when a book is not going to captivate me enough to bother finishing. Bailed about 1/3 of the eat through.

Divided into two parts, I found the second part the easiest to read. Story is set 100+ years in the future. Researchers looking back at now. Trying in the main to find a lost poem. The first part certainly gave me pause for thought. If I had done this review just after I read it I might have said so so .Time to think and ponder gave me a very different view.

First of all, the cover is gorgeous. My hopes were high after reading positive reviews and knowing what this author is capable of. But unfortunately this didn‘t evoke many feelings for me. I found the mystery to be a bit lackluster and didn‘t particularly care for any character. The set up is intriguing: partially set in the future, a scholar is looking back at a poet‘s collected papers and uncovers a secret.

The latest on my stack of bails, I‘ve listened to a quarter of this and it‘s doing nothing for me. I swear there isn‘t any dialogue at all. So back it goes to the next person in line.

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Some of McEwan‘s more recent novels have been a mix bag for me but his newest is a return to form. I could not put down this literary mystery where a scholar in the 22nd century is trying to find a lost poem read and lost in the 21st century. Similar to Byatt‘s Possession.