What We Can Know

The breathtaking new novel from Ian McEwan 'A thumping literary mystery' Independent
'A gripping page-turner' Observer
'A beautiful novel, full of wisdom and heart. I loved it' Elif Shafak
2014: A poem is read aloud once then vanishes without a trace.
2119: A century later, the seas have risen and the world is under water. Those who remain are haunted by what's been lost - and what might still be found.
When university scholar Tom Metcalfe stumbles across a clue that may lead to the great lost poem, he reveals a story of entangled love and a brutal crime that challenges everything he thought he knew about the past...
READERS LOVE WHAT WE CAN KNOW:
'Fantastic...a book I will treasure forever'
'Brilliant, gripping, fascinating'
'Makes you question everything you think you know'
'A beautiful exploration of memory and love'
'What a book. Utterly absorbing'
'Rewarding and thought-provoking' Financial Times
'A master storyteller' The Times
'It gave me so much pleasure' New York Times
'Haunting, playful and ultimately hopeful... A wonderful book' Kaliane Bradley
*A BOOK OF THE YEAR for the Sunday Times, Guardian, New York Times, New Statesman, Spectator, New Yorker, i Paper and Barack Obama*

Ian McEwan is the critically acclaimed author of nineteen novels and two short story collections. His first published work, a collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites, won the Somerset Maugham Award. His novels include The Child in Time, which won the 1987 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award; The Cement Garden; Enduring Love; Amsterdam, which won the 1998 Booker Prize; Atonement; Saturday; On Chesil Beach; Solar; Sweet Tooth; The Children Act; Nutshell; Machines Like Me; and Lessons. Atonement, Enduring Love, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach have all been adapted for the big screen.