McEwan, the oft-called master of macabre’s newest novella, On Chesil Beach, is a return to form, a short and dark novel centered around a young couple’s wedding night. While the action is well-framed and the characters are true to their setting, after a number of longer and intricate novels (like his recently film-adapted Atonement, and Saturday ), I was left seeking details that were never imagined, stories and subplots never written, for this novella. Or maybe that is the goal here, to keep me wanting more.