Jack has an older sister, Julie, and a younger one, Sue who when we meet them are already engaged in sexualised play rituals that don’t involve the very much younger brother, Tom, who is just a toddler. Primarily seen through the eyes of the 15 year old Jack, this is the story of a family that has collapsed in on itself. But for me what marks this book out as a bit special is the writing – atmospheric and absurdly confident and skilful for a first novelist. There are probably several reasons why it’s become something of a cult book – the gothic atmosphere, the oppressive subject matter, the incest and a body encased in concrete in a trunk all give it high marks on the ‘something a bit different’ scale of measurement.

It’s a short novel too – barely more than a novella – and bears all the hallmarks of a short story idea that’s been expanded and coaxed into longer form.īut neither of those two latter points are a criticism of the book which is, in lots of ways, a startling debut.

Untitled at that point, The Cement Garden, is what he sent them and what became his first novel. On the strength of that an American publishing house started pestering him for a novel – did he, they wondered, have something up his sleeve that they could publish? A glorious find for anyone interested in new discoveries from the world of international film.Posted on The Cement Garden by Ian McEwanīack in 1978 the young Ian McEwan had a couple of slim volumes of short stories to his name and a growing reputation that he might just be an author who would go on to do something a bit special. well acted, well photographed and well adapt ed by Andrew Birkin, this classic engrossing and offbeat film is not so much disturbing, as rivetong. To make matters worse, a snooping suitor with designs on the older sister threatens to discover the secret and destroy the family's well-constructed facade. The plot thickens as a deeply antagonistic relationship bevelops between the older brother and sister, which charges the whole atmosphere with sexual tensions.

The story revolves around four children who conspire to hide their dead mother's body to avoid being split apart and sent to an orphanage. Based on the novel by Ian McEwan (who also wrote the novel upon which The Comfort of Strangers is based), this movie is never exploitive, but always gripping. This is the original New Yorker Video release of the Super Classic, rare and highly accalimed compelling story of family taboos and secrets.

The cement garden plot