‘McEwan's exploration of his characters' lives and secret emotions is a virtuoso display of fictional subtlety and intelligence’ OBERVER ‘A page-turner, with a plot so engrossing that it seems reckless to pick the book up in the evening if you plan to get any sleep that night’ A. S. BYATT, LITERARY REVIEW ‘I cannot remember the last time I read a novel so beautifully written or utterly compelling from the very first page’ BILL BRYSON, SUNDAY TIMES 风景如画的伦敦郊野，五个可以说都是助人为乐的陌生人一道赶去救助一起热气球事故，但或许只不过一瞬间的犹疑、自私，一个大活人就在大家眼前顷刻间殒命。生命的如此脆弱易逝反而点燃了杰德疯狂而执着的爱，并由此导致乔及克拉莉莎的世界完全混乱失序。步入成熟、渐入佳境的麦克尤恩通过对于一场精神危机、一种精神疾患的细致展现，严肃而又深刻地探讨了人类的情绪、情感、意识乃至于人性本身的无限可能以及脆弱无依。