New York Times best-selling author, Ian McEwan has won the Booker Prize, Whitbread Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award for his masterfully accomplished fiction. The Comfort of Strangers is an exquisitely crafted gothic novella. On holiday, Colin and Maria wander the ancient streets of Venice and frequently lose their way. When they are accosted by a man with a strange and alluring story to tell, they soon become entwined in a fantasy of violence and erotic obsession.
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"I found this perhaps the most shocking of McEwans books read so far. As usual, the characters are so wonderfully drawn and are totally convincible - this could really happen!I loved the setting - perfect for the storyline! "
— Maureen (4 out of 5 stars)
“Haunting and compelling.”
— The Times (London)“As always, McEwan manages his own idiom with remarkable grace and inventiveness; his characters are at home in their dreams, and so is he.”
— Guardian (London)" I read this while waiting for nail polish to dry, it probably would've been better time spent watching my nails dry. Well-written up until the last few chapters, the last few pages....ew. "
— Lindsey, 5/1/2011" This was brilliantly... excellently written! McEwan has the talent of taking you out of wherever you are and putting you right in the moment of his stories. However, the ending felt a bit muddled. "
— Zaki, 4/21/2011" I had such high hopes for this book - I like Ian McEwan, I like mysteries... I did not like this! "
— Marianne, 3/29/2011" Very creepy but very good, loved the length. My first McEwan read. "
— Greg, 3/28/2011" Are you kidding? If this guy lived within 20 miles of me I would move. What a creep. The back cover synopsis gave no warning. Last I'll ever consider this author. "
— Leah, 3/4/2011" I hadn't read any of Ian McEwans early work...this was his first book. A gothic "mystery" that felt less like a novel and more like a Law and Order Special Victims Unit episode. Skip it. "
— Shannan, 3/3/2011" Creepy and I have to tell I didn't get all the implications about the ending, just too strange and umotivated.... "
— Susanna, 2/22/2011" A great book! I never thought it would end like this... "
— Charlotte, 2/22/2011" Paul Bowles did this better in "Up Above the World." "
— Jennifer, 2/18/2011" Mary and Colin are too naive, the story is morbid, slow and sick. "
— Zoran, 2/7/2011" This book is crazy. The author packs a lot of imagery into 120+odd pages. Having an idea of what Venice is like, I was able to illustrate the story in my mind fairly well. Definitely a Gothic romance/murder novel. "
— Sara, 2/3/2011" Very disturbing... in a way that stays with you. "
— Spring, 1/31/2011" This story left me unmoved. I didn't care what happened to the characters due to the senseless decisions that they had made. It reminded me of "Don't Look Now". "
— Hairy, 1/19/2011Ian McEwan is the author of more than a dozen books, including either New York Times bestsellers. His novel Amsterdam won the 1998 Book Prize; Atonement, won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the W. H. Smith Literary Award; and The Child in Time won the Whitbread Award. His story collection, First Love, Last Rites, won the Somerset Maugham Award.
N. T. Wright, former Bishop of Durham in the Church of England, now serves as chair of New Testament and Early Christianity at the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews. He has been featured on ABC News, Dateline, The Colbert Report, and Fresh Air. He is the award-winning author of such books as Simply Christian, Surprised by Hope, After You Believe, Simply Jesus, How God Became King, and the series Christian Origins and the Question of God, and he is the translator of The Kingdom New Testament.