Amsterdam By Ian McEwan

Two friends and former lovers of glamorous, witty restaurant critic Molly Lane, meet at Molly's funeral. The two men, Clive Linley a distinguished composer, and Vernon Halliday a newspaper editor, have been friends for many years.

Molly had many other lovers, including Julian Garmony, the Foreign Secretary, a political high flyer, widely tipped to be the next prime minister.

The sudden onset of Molly's illness and undignified manner of her death, upsets Clive and Vernon deeply. They particularly resent the fact that her incapacity robbed Molly of her independence and made her reliant upon and under the control of her stolid husband George, a situation Molly resented.

In the following days, Clive and Vernon begin to suffer from aches and pains they hadn't noticed previously and they become worried about their own mortality. Not wishing to end up in a similar situation to Molly, they make a mutual pact help one another commit suicide should similar fates befall them. Having done so, they both feel much better and get back on with their lives and careers with renewed spirits.

Clive has been commissioned to write a symphony for the forthcoming Millenium. He is close to finishing what he thinks will be the finest piece he has ever written and which he hopes will bring him the accolades he feels he richly deserves. He strives harder and harder for perfection, but the final spark of genius he needs keeps eluding him and he resents any intrusion from the outside world.

Vernon meanwhile, has been contacted by Molly's husband George, who, while sorting through her personal effects has discovered a set of photographs Molly had taken of her other lover, the M.P Julian Garmony. The photos are a journalist's dream, as they show Garmony dressed in woman's clothes, wearing make-up and clearly enjoying the experience...

Vernon wants to expose Garmony and publish the photographs in an effort to revive sales of his ailing newspaper. His staff disagree. He approaches Clive in the hope of finding moral support from his friend, but Clive is immersed in his music and not at all pleased at Vernon's insistent distractions and demands upon his valuable time. When he finally agrees to listen to Vernon, Clive also disagrees with his decision, not because of a wish to protect Julian Garmony, but because he feels that publishing photographs Molly took for private purposes would be betraying her. A big argument between the two men breaks out.

As Julian Garmony fights for his political life, the consequences of the sequence of events play out, culiminating in a quite unexpected outcome.

Most of the story takes place in London, so why is the title of the book "Amsterdam"? You'll have to read it and find out!...

Amsterdam is another solid, entertaining read from award winning author, Ian McEwan. He paints a revealing picture of the private lifestyles of his fictional rich and famous characters - a picture that one suspects is mirrored in the exploits of more than one real life "celebrity" figure! The story has a twist in the tale - one that I am pleased to say that I didn't see coming and which was as good as any of Roald Dahl's famous "Tales of the Unexpected"!

"Amsterdam" is definitely worth a read!

"Amsterdam" by Ian McEwan on Amazon - available in hardback, paperback, audio and Kindle format