Sweet Tooth

By: Ian McEwan

Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of such prestigious honors as the Booker Prize and Whitbread Award, Ian McEwan is justifiably regarded as a modern master. Set in 1972, Sweet Tooth follows Cambridge student Serena Frome, whose intelligence and beauty land her a job with England's intelligence agency, MI5. In an attempt to monitor writers' politics, MI5 tasks Serena with infiltrating the literary circle of author Tom Healy. But soon matters of trust and identity subvert the operation.

©2012 Ian McEwan (P)2012 Random House Audiobooks

Pretty brilliant

No words for Ian McEwan would do the job here. What a surprise ending - never seen it wrapped up like that. Couldn’t put this one down.

Satisfying novel with a great narrator

This is a terrific book, relatively short and very well read. One of its pleasures is the view of 1970s England, which is very distinctly different from the modern financial capital that London has since become. I enjoyed revisiting that time as well as that place, despite being sadly reminded of what life was like for women in that time.

The story is very well read by Juliet Stevenson, one of my favorite narrators, and is another fascinating view of womanhood from the perspective of a male author who seems very much a character in this novel.

One of my favorite books is ATONEMENT by Ian McEwan, also a story about a strong female writer and this book shares many of the things I loved about that book as well. The story weaves in upon itself in a most satisfying way like ATONEMENT did. It also has many levels but despite this complexity is never hard to follow. It doesn't scream 'LITERATURE' but it is literary in a substantive way, reflecting on the nature of writing and truth and questioning the reliability of the narrator but without losing the power of the narrative.

I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it both as a listening experience and a thoughtful story.

Disappointed. Great reader though.

I’ll listen to Juliet Stenson read anything. But I didn’t like this book. Even though the protagonist is female it seemed like a lot of male posturing to me. I guess I’m just not a McEwan fan.

Enjoyable and, like all McEwan, with a twist!

I really loved Sarina—the protagonist—and her time period and decisions (yes, even the bad ones). But it’s not a traditional love story. I would recommend this for people who love twists, conflicted characters and situations, and books set in mid-twentieth-century Britain. Also, Stevenson is such an amazing voice artist that I think I like the book better listening to her narration than I might have if I had read it.

Wonderful tale.

Ian McEwan never disappoints. Juliet Stevens narration was superb as usual. A worthy investment of my time.

Intensely real

I felt like the book had so many insights to real life. The characters felt real and human. No one was all good or bad. I love the raw quality of the writing. It felt very honest. Loved it

Clever plot well written

What made the experience of listening to Sweet Tooth the most enjoyable?

Juliet Stevenson read it so beautifully.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Serena Frume because she was so realistic in her reactions

Which character – as performed by Juliet Stevenson – was your favorite?

Shirley Shilling - because Ms. Stevenson got her accent perfectly and imbued her with exactly the right touch of lower class brashness. Wonderful characterization.

If you could rename Sweet Tooth, what would you call it?

That's a strange question! Who's Watching Whom? maybe.

Any additional comments?

This was a very cleverly written book. Masterful in fact. The appeal for me was that I am very familiar with all the locations having grown up in Sevenoaks (Tony's home town) and lived in Camden when I was at college in London. I totally "got" Serena and could picture exactly every scene. I also grew up in the 1970s and remember all the political shenanigans of the time - the strikes, the three-day week, etc. Marvellous book, nice twist, and expertly read.

I really enjoyed this book.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this book immensely. It was very well written, had an interesting ending and was wonderfully narrated. It was the whole package.

Love, lies and literature

This novel is so tasty. I read it once years ago, but hearing it on Audible I was really able to relish this entirely believable, utterly inventive story. The young, beautiful Serena is so sympathetic even as she wanders into a life of deception and dubious moral direction. One feels for each of the seriously flawed characters, almost as if they were children. As in many of his novels, Ian McEwan draws the reader in and forward through his compelling story; ultimately the writer wins and the experience for the reader is delicious.

Structurally complicated with beautiful language

Structurally complicated with beautiful language McEwan's spy novel flows and ebbs on several levels. He is writing about a woman spying on a writer who is an obvious stand-in for himself. McEwan *almost* pulls this off, but the weight (or forced feint) of the structure almost sinks the novel in the middle.

Essentially, 'Sweet Tooth' is about love, deception, politics and art. It reminds me of earlier post modern novels by Carey (My Life as a Fake), Atwood (Blind Assassin) and Gaddis (Recognitions) where the authors seems to be playing with not just the story but the whole relationship between author, narrator and reader. A good novel, just not a great McEwan novel.