translation from German http://www.mdr.de/mdr-figaro/literatur/buchderwoche-mcewan-kindeswohl100.html
Ian McEwan: "The children Act"
The English Ian McEwan climbed the career ladder at an early age with sensational pace . Already his early stories that came out 40 years ago, were awarded the Somerset Maugham Award-. For the epic "Amsterdam" he won the 1998 Booker Prize. But he celebrated the biggest success in 2001 with his bestseller "Atonement", which sold three million copies worldwide. Now his latest novel "child welfare" appeared - Ian McEwan writes about a lawyer who has to deal with important issues of our society.
Fiona Maye is a judge in London and specializes in family law. Every day she therefore has to do with divorce and custody disputes, and issues that arise in parallel societies - in religious communities that are not defined on the applicable laws. It has to do with Jehovah's Witnesses who want to refuse life-saving blood transfusions. And with ultra-Orthodox Jews who have completely shielded their children growing up .
No false tolerance
McEwan describes Fiona Mayes cases and decisions where it often refers to atheist moralists such as Immanuel Kant. His own position on these issues is therefore clear - his book is a plea for a jurisdiction where religious dogmas do not play any role . The question of tolerance is not here for him - Political correctness is not McEwan thing.
"Ian McEwan has understood with his own sensibility to that in Western Europe in the public debate there are gray areas that uncomfortable questions in the media either do not occur or are illuminated only on one side. That's why he uses the medium of the novel, to pay attention to this shortcoming. I think that's absolutely legitimate. "
Also Mayes private lifein"The children Act"s plays a role, after many year together, her husband wants her blessing for an extramarital affair. In addition to the descriptions of the everyday working life these passages convince but only within limits. Maye response to the much younger rival is too hard-nosed, enlightening insights on "open marriage" stay out.
Fortunately, Ian McEwan reaches overall a dramaturgical structure of his novel. He constructs his prose so that it resembles a flow channel. You are immediately swept emotionally into the action. Thanks to this technique McEwan overcomes with casual ease the barriers where an entertainment writer fails.
