This chapter-by-chapter summary contains plot spoilers!

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Atonement by Ian McEwan Pages 81 - 100

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(Brought to you by jat impatientreader.com) Emily is in her room, trying to avoid getting a migraine headache. She thinks about her children, and especially Briony, as she hears them throughout the house. She dozes for a while, and then hears a man's voice, and knows it's Marshall. She again thinks of Briony, and how when she was younger how precocious she was and how it would bring out the best in her. Now, she reflects, Briony is past that stage, and it weighs on Emily's mind. She feels the headache starting to pass over, and determines that she should go out and get the house in order before dinner.

Chapter 7 begins with a description of the island temple, which was built in the 1780s and has not withstood the elements as well as the rest of the house. Briony is walking nearby, slashing at the nettles with a stick. To her, each one represents a bad facet of her life such as Lola, the play, and her own self. She then imagines herself competing in the Olympic Games of 1936 in the sport of nettle slashing, but the fantasy quickly goes away. She sees Leon arriving in the carriage. She decides to wait on the bridge connecting the island to the main house for another momentous event to call out to her.

Chapter 8 starts with a description of the sky at sunset, only a small part of which is visible to Robbie Turner. However, he can only think about Cecilia and how she looked in the fountain naked. He remembers knowing her since they were children.
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