Read in 2026 - 2: The Children Act

The Children Act

Ian McEwan

Another paperback from the secondhand book sale by the church, this relatively short book of 213 pages was an intense and very good read. Highly recommended!

In the middle of a marital crisis, a High Court Judge has to decide on a case involving a 17-year old boy who refuses medical treatment for religious reasons, facing almost certain death.

Fiona finds she can't pass judgement without having spoken to the boy personally, and her visit in hospital becomes a turning point in her life as well as the boy's.

Because I don't want to spoil it for any of you who might want to read the book for yourselves, I'm not going to tell you more about the actual story. But I can tell you what made it such a good read for me:

Fiona, her husband and all the other characters involved are entirely believable. The descriptions of the Judge's work, her daily life and her marriage are unsentimental but still take the reader in. I really cared about what was happening, what she did and what she didn't do.

Maybe part of it comes from me being only a year younger than Fiona, and being able to relate to some of what it can mean to get closer to one's 60th birthday (she is said to be 59 in the book, and I will be 58 in March). Maybe I am also a bit like her in that I can compartmentalise my thinking similarly to what she does when she focuses on her work and pushes everything else to the back, and her analytical mind. (I'm nowhere near as highly educated, but I can approach a problem or challenge systematically and logically, which does not mean I am always successful in mastering each and everything life presents me with.)

At some point in the second half of the book, I guessed the outcome, but that wasn't the point of the story; it's not a work of crime fiction where the reader can solve the puzzle along with the investigating team and take guesses at the whodunnit.

Last but not least, the author's writing is of the kind that just makes you want to read on - no "dumbing down", but no unnecessary use of long winding sentences and rare words just to show that he can do it, and to put the reader in awe.

It wasn't my first read by Ian McEwan; I know I have read "Atonement" and "On Chesil Beach", but it must have been before I started to post reviews here on my blog of every book I've read.