Atonement Trivia

Since Atonement is a novel about novels, it shouldn't be a surprise that it's based on another novel. Specifically, McEwan cribbed the plot in part from Henry James's What Maisie Knew, another story about a child who gets involved in an adult sexual relationship that she doesn't understand.
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McEwan has reportedly been working on an opera adaptation of the novel. Paul Marshall singing about chocolate bars? Robbie singing odes to Cecilia's anatomy? Not sure this is really such a great idea…
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Saoirse Ronan received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her performance as Briony in the 2007 film adaptation of Atonement. She was only 13 at the time… and she says she often forgets she was even nominated.
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McEwan decided not to write the script for the film version of Atonement because he said it would be "a little dull" to go redo the novel. So if you ever felt a smidgen of boredom while reading the novel, you can take comfort in knowing that McEwan did too, maybe. (The script was written instead by Christopher Hampden.)
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The green dress Keira Knightley wore as Cecilia was named the best of all time by InStyle Magazine. Not sure what that means exactly, but it is a pretty spectacular dress. (You can see pictures of the dress in the "Images" section.)
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