Ian McEwan’s Latest Novel Bridges Past and Future in Climate-Changed Britain

A New Literary Milestone

Ian McEwan’s epic new novel ‘What We Can Know’ is set to be published on September 18, 2025. The author describes it as ‘science fiction without the science,’ exploring themes of history and human understanding, examining life ‘between the dead and the yet to be born.’

Plot and Setting

The novel is set in 2119, in a western world largely submerged by rising seas following a catastrophic nuclear accident. In this diminished world, a scholar becomes obsessed with a lost poem from 2014.

The story begins in 2014 with renowned poet Francis Blundy reading a new poem called ‘A Corona for Vivien’ at his wife’s birthday dinner. This poem, which has never been found, becomes an enduring mystery that sparks speculation for generations to come.

Critical Reception and Significance

Early reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, with Kirkus giving it a starred review and calling it ‘a powerful homage to a lost era.’ The novel has been praised for its handling of the climate crisis and its meditations on the value of humanities, featuring thoughtful explorations of poetry, biography, and human connection through written word.

Literary Context

McEwan’s position as one of the most celebrated authors in modern literary history is well-established. As a Booker Prize winner with multiple shortlistings, he has earned six Booker nominations throughout his career, winning the prize in 1998 with ‘Amsterdam’.

Speaking about his new work, McEwan reflected on its themes: ‘This is a novel about history, and what we can know of it, and of each other. Of the dead we know a little, but not as much as we think. About the present, we disagree fiercely. People of the future are beyond our reckoning, but we’re troubled by what we’ll bequeath them.’