Wow. How to rate this book. Seemingly stupid idea, yet brilliantly done. Would be pretentious if it wasn't so smart. I enjoyed it!

I like the original point of view in this book.

An intriguing, entertaining thriller told from the perspective of a nine-month-old foetus listening in on his mother and her adulterous affair with her brother-in-law. It is a curious concept to have a foetal narrator with the vocabulary and knowledge of a highly educated adult but, written with poetic precision, it delights in its use of language and offers insights on the violent, chaotic world that the baby is preparing to enter.

This story had all of the right elements: a clever premise, excellent, descriptive, lush language, a common plot of marriage, an affair, and a betrayal, but it just never gelled for me. Probably my least favorite Ian McEwan novel.

Amazing narration by Rory Kinnear in the audio format!! This is a most unusual novel that is narrated by an unborn child who hears, sees, and tastes all that his mother does. Therefore, when the fetus hears his mother and her lover plot the murder of her husband, what is baby to do???

I could not put this book down. Unique book. Best fiction i have read so far this year... by far. You must get around the fact that the story is being narrated by an unborn child... but the narration of this child is engaging, funny, and suspenseful. Its a story of betrayal... and within it a love story... a murder mystery... and quite humorous in the right spots. Order this book now and read it as soon as possible. You will not be disappointed.

The thing about this book is, the actual plot isn’t all that earth-shattering—but with McEwan holding the pen, it becomes a story that you can. not. stop. reading. until you finish the last page. This book takes place inside the womb of Trudy, who has separated from her husband, John, to live with his brother, Claude. As if that weren’t complicated enough, she’s pregnant with John’s son, who is the narrator of the story. As this unborn boy goes through the final stages of development, he participates in everything his mother does: sunbathing...eating Indian takeout...plotting the murder of her estranged husband with her lover and brother-in-law. Yikes.
What struck me most as I read the conversations the baby overheard from inside his mother—the unceasing new stories detailing the atrocities of the outside world at large, and then the scheming of his relatives plotting his own father’s demise—it struck me that mankind still refuses to enact the one lifestyle choice that could actually make this broken world better: kindness. Everyone has wicked thoughts at times, but if one chooses to push those aside and treat others with kindness, that corner of the world will be the better for it. And if everyone does this, all the corners of the world will be the better for it!
Idealistic, I know. But after reading this story of an unborn baby having to watch, powerless, as his mother and uncle plot evil, I WANT that idealistic world for that baby, and for all the other sons and daughters that will be born. If there’s anything worth being idealistic about, it’s the future of mankind’s babies.

Wow!

Fun fact: Shakespeare originally wrote Hamlet as unborn as well, but he changed it when he couldn't find enough words to rhyme with fetus.