Beyond recall

Ian McEwan's 18th, and perhaps last, novel surveys society's progress in recent decades - and shares parallels with his own life.

- LINDA HERRICK

LESSONS, by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape, $37)

Towards the end of Ian McEwan's disquieting new novel, his hapless older hero, Roland Baines, is embarking on a "lockdown project" in which he's annotating several thousand photos spread across the floor of his London sitting room.

It is early 2020 and Roland, a widower in poor physical shape, is in the midst of the UK's first Covid lockdown. The photos, old-fashioned prints, span the years up to 2004, when digital technology took over. Roland's progress is slow; so far he has managed to write on the back of only 58 photos.

The images trigger long drifts of memory, with Roland mulling over the erratic course of his life, played out within the framework of epic political changes and global crises.

As a survey of humanity's progress over the past seven decades, Lessons presents a mixed bag that runs out of optimism. In today's world, Roland senses "a novel ugliness... with nations run by well-dressed criminals".