Atonement

Question 1

“refugees … war”

part 1, page 8

Answer 1

“refugees from a bitter domestic civil war”

Question 2

“all … freckled”

part 1, page 9

Answer 2

“all three were ginger-haired and freckled”

Question 3

“if it survived … Tallis’”

part 1, page 24

Answer 3

“if it survived the war, the reasoning went, then it could survive the Tallis’”

Question 4

“by … responsibility”

part 1, page 30

Answer 4

“by this gesture, he assumed full responsibility”

Question 5

“what strange … her”

part 1, page 38

Answer 5

“what strange power did he have over her”

Question 6

“the … invention”

part 1, page 41

Answer 6

“the truth had become as ghostly as invention”

Question 7

“as she … leaf”

part 1, page 54

Answer 7

“as she passed she felt him touch her lightly on her forearm. Or it may have been a leaf”

Question 8

“he … bite it”

part 1, page 62

Answer 8

“he crossed and uncrossed his legs. Then he took a deep breath. ‘Bite it’ he said softly. ‘You’ve got to bite it”

Question 9

“illness … should”

part 1, page 66

Answer 9

“illness had stopped her giving her children all a mother should”

Question 10

“she knew … duty”

part 1, page 69

Answer 10

“she knew that even if the knives were not poised above her optic nerve, she would attend to her nephews only out of duty”

Question 11

“now … begun”

part 1, page 91

Answer 11

“now finally, with the exercise of will, his adult life had begun”

Question 12

“no one … twins”

part 1, page 100

Answer 12

“no one in the Tallis household was looking after the Quincey twins”

Question 13

“it was … everything”

part 1, page 113

Answer 13

“it was wrong to open people’s letters, but it was right, it was essential for her to know everything”

Question 14

“her … fight”

part 1, page 123

Answer 14

“her immediate understanding was that she had interrupted an attack, a hand to hand fight”

Question 15

“i love … change”

part 1, page 128

Answer 15

“i love England in a heat wave. It’s a different country. All the rules change”

Question 16

“this decision … life”

part 1, page 144

Answer 16

“this decision, as he was to acknowledge many times, transformed his life”

Question 17

“how like … prompting”

part 1, page 147

Answer 17

“how like Hermione Lola was, to remain guiltless while others destroyed themselves at her prompting”

Question 18

“within … crime”

part 1, page 156

Answer 18

“within the half hour Briony would commit her crime”

Question 19

“everyday … darkness”

part 1, page 163

Answer 19

“everyday sounds magnified by darkness”

Question 20

“she … voice”

part 1, page 164

Answer 20

“she heard the helplessness in Lola’s voice”

Question 21

“listen … him”

part 1, page 167

Answer 21

“listen to me. I couldn’t mistake him. I’ve known him all my life. I saw him”

Question 22

“Lola … truth”

part 1, page 168

Answer 22

“Lola was required only to remain silent about the truth”

Question 23

“it was … child’s”

part 2, page 192

Answer 23

“it was a perfect leg, pale, smooth, small enough to be a child’s”

Question 24

“another … own”

part 2, page 202

Answer 24

“another vanished life that was once his own”

Question 25

"his ... survival" | part 2, page 217

Answer 25

"his thoughts had shrunk to the small hard point of his own survival"

Question 26

"the quantity ... remembered" | part 2, page 223

Answer 26

"the quantity of blood obscured the textbook details he remembered"

Question 27

"yes ... lie" | part 2, page 228

Answer 27

"yes, she was just a child. But not every child sends a man to prison with a lie"

Question 28

"mother ... vaporised" | part 2, page 239

Answer 28

"mother and child had been vaporised"

Question 29

"it was ... front" | part 2, page 249

Answer 29

"it was not difficult to choose between these circles of suffering - the sea, the beach and the front"

Question 30

" ... bastards" | part 2, page 257

Answer 30

"those poor bastards"

Question 31

"let ... evidence" | part 2, page 262

Answer 31

"let the guilty bury the innocence, and let no one change the evidence"

Question 32

"I promise ... me" | part 2, page 265

Answer 32

"I promise you won't hear another word from me"

Question 33

"Briony ... Milton" | part 3, page 275

Answer 33

"Briony contemplated a ghostly parallel life in which she was at Girton, reading Milton"

Question 34

"physical ... horizons" | part 3, page 275

Answer 34

"physical discomfort helped close down Briony's mental horizons"

Question 35

"the ... banana" | part 3, page 296

Answer 35

"the leg was black and soft, like an overripe banana"

Question 36

"barely ... rapist" | part 3, page 324

Answer 36

"barely more than a child, prised open and taken - to marry her rapist"

Question 37

"the process ... down" | epilogue, page 354

Answer 37

"the process will be slow, but my brain, my mind is closing down"

Question 38

"Lord ... Marshall" | (epilogue, page 357

Answer 38

"Lord and lady Marshall"

Question 39

"how ... reunion" | epilogue, page 366

Answer 39

"how delightful to be at the heart of such a good-willed reunion"

Question 40

"my fifty ... over" | epilogue, page 369

Answer 40

"my fifty-nine year assignment is over"

Question 41

"my forensic ... alive" | epilogue, page 370

Answer 41

"my forensic memoir could never be published while my fellow criminals were alive"

Question 42

"it was ... all" | epilogue, page 371

Answer 42

"it was always an impossible task ... the attempt was all"