What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

From the author of Atonem, this Vintage publication is a literary thriller and a love story that spans the past, present, and future, posing profound questions about humanity's identity and trajectory. Set against a backdrop of rising seas and lost history, this novel explores the echoes of the early twenty-first century.

The narrative weaves together timelines: 2014, where a significant poem is read and subsequently lost, and 2119, where survivors in the submerged UK lowlands grapple with loss. University scholar Tom Metcalfe uncovers clues in the archives, leading him to a story of entangled love and a brutal crime that redefines his understanding of the past.

• A quest, literary thriller, and love story spanning past, present, and future.
• Features a setting where the UK's lowlands are submerged by rising seas (2119).
• Follows scholar Tom Metcalfe as he investigates the mystery of a lost poem.
• Praised as a dazzling novel and a poignant love letter to the vanishing past.
• Named a BOOK OF THE YEAR by Sunday Times, Guardian, New York Times, and Barack Obama.

• Author: Ian McEwan
• Brand/Publisher: Vintage
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Language: English
• Print Length: 320 pages
• Publication Date: June 18, 2026
• Dimensions: 129 x 22 x 197mm
• Weight: 254g
• ISBN-10: 1529959209
• ISBN-13: 978-1529959208

Explore this haunting, hopeful, and wise novel that delves deep into memory, loss, and what remains when civilization shifts. This is essential reading for fans of thoughtful, character-driven science fiction.