Sweet Tooth

Deception. Deception is at the core of Ian McEwan’s novel, Sweet Tooth. McEwan sets the novel in England in the early 1970s, and uses a female protagonist and narrator, Serena Frome, to tell a slowly paced entertaining story about a new MI5 recruit and her relationship with the target of her initial assignment, a promising writer named Tom Healy. Serena’s deception with Tom provides the plot action to engage readers in this story. As their relationship becomes intimate, the risks of the deception unraveling increased, adding a narrative tension that I found enjoyable. McEwan develops the complexity of both characters in ways that made me feel that I understood them quite well. Lovers of finely written prose will appreciate McEwan’s skill in this novel. I especially enjoyed his use of Serena as a reader to provide context and insight into writers and writing as viewed from the perspective of a reader. Rating: Five-star (I love it) Click here to purchase Sweet Tooth from amazon.com.