Told from a different perspective, you will quickly read this Shakespearean tale. You can sense the tension in the writing, it is a game of tactics between the characters. Written in a way that the reader is given a detailed account of what is going on. "First sorrow, then justice, then meaning. The rest is chaos..."

Ian McEwan at his best! A gripping narrative from the unique perspective of an embryo viewing his and his parents/relatives in this fatal faze in all their lives, excellent reading

Ian McEwan’s latest novel is an utterly wonderful domestic thriller married to Shakespeare. In McEwan’s contemporary retelling of Hamlet, the author has given the reader a wonderful companion and perspective via an erudite unborn child. This clever fetus has the keen knowledge of a sommelier, and a love of poetry and podcasts. The central conceit of Nutshell is that the unborn Hamlet can hear everything, but do nothing, and he becomes the unfortunate bystander to his father’s murder. A lesser author would most likely not be able to write beyond the ‘gimmick’. Thankfully, McEwan has masterfully evaded this, and has created something utterly fascinating. Many would have been tempted to stretch the novel much beyond its conceit, yet McEwan is confident enough in his storytelling to deliver a punchy novel that for me, never lagged. Some may be put off by the poetically infused prose, but a strong knowledge of the original play is not needed to enjoy this funny and charming, albeit tragic story. So much so, that the plot of the novel is not really the main draw of the novel. There is of course an inevitability to the way the story will end and it is a domestic thriller in the most brilliantly mundane of ways. The beauty of reading Nutshell is really in McEwan’s drawing of Hamlet and the brilliantly conceited set of characters just beyond the womb that carries him. However, for some, they may be left wanting for a more plotted book. The real charm of Nutshell is the fun that McEwan is clearly having with this story, its perspective, and how this story would translate in the modern world.

This story is told by a precociously articulate eight and a half month old foetus (well, his mother is an avid listener to Radio 4!) who has heard his mother and her lover plotting to murder his father. What can he do about it? Nothing, he fears, although he is determined to do whatever he can to try to influence events! However, what he certainly can do is to entertain the reader with his feelings of outrage about this dastardly plot, a running commentary on events as they unfold and his observations on the adults who hold his future in their hands. In addition to all this, he offers his reflections on a wide range of issues – family relationships, politics, religion, class, spiralling house prices, philosophy, to name but a few! Superficially it is a hugely funny story but it is far, far more than that in its modern take on Hamlet (allusions to the Bard’s play abound) and its wide-ranging look at contemporary society. This is Ian McEwan at his wonderfully imaginative, creative, challenging, reflective, philosophical, railing best! The story may well require a massive suspension of disbelief but the skill of the author and the taut, imaginative narrative and the wonderful black humour made it easy for me to do just that, and to settle back to enjoy a womb’s-eye view of life – or even, of death! I hope he had fun writing it because I certainly had fun reading it!

Ian McEwan is one of these very rare writers that with every book written with a clever and inventive story is capable of taking us on a different journey. In this book, we have a highly interesting first hand narrator in the form of an unborn baby whose mother Trudy is plotting to kill John the baby's father. It is a classic revenge and murder story but with its witty and tragic narration makes this novel an instant classic. Ian McEwan doesn't write much comedy but I must say that "Nutshell " is a stroke of genius and this first class comedy showing us once more that he is an absolute master of words. I urge you to buy and read it, I am sure that you will agree with me.