In Ian McEwan’s Sweet Tooth, we follow the exploits of Serena Plume, an unlikely new recruit for M15, as she delves into a new literary endeavor akin to the CIA’s involvement with Encounter. This spy novel brings the reader through an interesting chapter of England’s espionage history as seen through the eyes of our heroine, a Cambridge graduate whose predilection for falling in love brings an element of drama and intrigue to this beautifully written and satisfying tale. When Plume falls for one of M15’s writers, we are brought along on her journey and struggle with deception and duplicity. The novel delivers a surprising twist at the end that is reminiscent of Atonement’s ending, however this is where the comparison with McEwan’s other novel ends. Sweet Tooth is a refreshing and involving tale, set at a time in England’s past when disillusionment with government and society was settling in, a time of reevaluation not unlike our own today.

—Louisa of Breakwater Books, Guilford

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