伊恩•麥剋尤恩，1948年生，英國當代著名作傢。1976年以處女作短篇小說集《最初的愛情，最後的儀式》成名，並獲當年毛姆奬。此後佳作不斷，迄今已齣版十幾部既暢銷又獲好評的小說，其中《阿姆斯特丹》獲布剋奬，《時間中的孩子》獲惠特布萊德奬，《贖罪》獲全美書評人協會奬。近年來，隨著麥剋尤恩在主流文學圈獲得越來越高的評價，在圖書市場上創造越來越可觀的銷售記錄，他已經被公認為英國的“國民作傢”，他的名字已經成為當今英語文壇上“奇跡”的同義詞。

Serena Frome, the beautiful daughter of an Anglican bishop, has a brief affair with an older man during her final year at Cambridge, and finds herself being groomed for the intelligence services. The year is 1972. Britain, confronting economic disaster, is being torn apart by industrial unrest and terrorism and faces its fifth state of emergency. The Cold War has entered a moribund phase, but the fight goes on, especially in the cultural sphere.

Serena, a compulsive reader of novels, is sent on a ‘secret mission’ which brings her into the literary world of Tom Haley, a promising young writer. First she loves his stories, then she begins to love the man. Can she maintain the fiction of her undercover life? And who is inventing whom? To answer these questions, Serena must abandon the first rule of espionage – trust no one.

McEwan’s mastery dazzles us in this superbly deft and witty story of betrayal and intrigue, love, and the invented self.