Ian McEwan's first novel, The Cement Garden, is also largely regarded as one of his most disturbing works, and earned him the nickname 'Ian McAbre'. The plot centres around four siblings, aged 5 to 17, dealing with the death of both of their parents in short succession and suddenly flung into an independent existence in the mid 1970s. They are determined to avoid being taken in by social services, so place their mother's body in a barrel and then fill it with cement. This leads to an enormous amplification of the already somewhat dysfunctional practices of the children, as they are left orphaned, with 17 year old Julie adopting the role of mother. As the children's dysfunctionalities grow, they become increasingly cut off from the outside world, having no family or friends to speak of, aside from Julie's 24 year old boyfriend, Derek, and the ending leaves the future of the siblings highly uncertain.
The novel's narrator is 15 year old Jack, who is in the throes of hormone-stricken acne, body odour and masturbation. His disillusioned perspective of the world around him is reflective of that of many teenagers - arguing with his parents, and then Julie, cutting off those around him and actively rebelling against 'authority'. This subversive perspective positions Jack as an unreliable narrator, especially as the novel progresses and the siblings lose touch with reality outside of their home. The setting of the novel is also of note, as their house is in the middle of a derelict landscape of abandoned houses, concrete and weeds - giving the eponymous concrete garden a tripartite meaning: their actual garden, which is covered in concrete, the surroundings of their home, and the 'grave' of their mother.
Sexuality and incest are central to the plot, as Jack recalls how the three eldest children used to 'experiment' with one another, with Jack and Julie playing 'doctor' with Sue. Now that they are older, this game has stopped, but Jack's desire for Julie is made apparent early on in the novel and grows as the novel progresses as he becomes jealous of Julie's boyfriend and behaves disruptively to gain her attention. By including these incestuous elements, McEwan alienates many of his readers further from an already highly unusual scenario, which I found rather disorientating as it created a reality so different from anything I have ever experienced or previously read about.
I believe that 'The Cement Garden' achieves everything that McEwan intended it to: shocking his readers into contemplation of matters often swept under the carpet and making them question their only source of information for the story, the narrator. Although, for me, this did not have the same impact of 'On Chesil Beach' or 'Atonement', McEwan's unmistakable, gritty style is still there, beginning to develop into the renowned and acclaimed author he undoubtedly is today.
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