The Sense of An Ending

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This intense novel follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he has never much thought about - until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance, one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. Tony Webster thought he'd left all this behind as he built a life for himself, and by now his marriage and family and career have fallen into an amicable divorce and retirement. But he is then presented with a mysterious legacy that obliges him to reconsider a variety of things he thought he'd understood all along, and to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.

The Sense of an Ending is a 2011 novel by British author Julian Barnes. Narrated by a retired man named Tony Webster, the book centers around his friendship with a young man named Adrian Finn back when he was in school, and the events that eventually tore them apart. When the past catches up with Tony, he is forced to confront the paths that he and his friends have taken in life. Exploring themes such as death, regret, and reminiscence, The Sense of an Ending is noted for its unconventional narration: both parts are narrated by Tony, but they skip back and forth between Tony’s teen years with Adrian and the arrival of a mysterious document during his twilight years. The Sense of an Ending was critically acclaimed by the majority of reviewers, although some found its bleak tone off-putting. It was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2011 and nominated for the Costa Book Awards that same year. The Sense of an Ending has been adapted into a 2017 movie directed by Ritesh Batra and starring Michelle Dockery, Jim Broadbent, and Charlotte Rampling.

The Sense of an Ending begins as Tony Webster reminisces, revealing certain images that have stuck with him over his long life. They are all themed around water, including steam, a drain, a river, and a bathtub. The actual story begins with his childhood in a British prep school. He describes his group of friends but focuses especially on the newest boy in their group, Adrian Finn. Adrian is a smart, clever boy who is good friends with the exacting Professor Hunt, and that makes him an asset to the other boys in Tony’s group. They befriend him hoping to get an advantage with the professor, but Tony soon strikes up a genuine friendship with Adrian. Adrian is a kind, idealistic boy, which is a contrast to the more cynical way Tony and his friends view the world. As Tony discusses this period of his life, it becomes clear that while all the other boys have troubled relationships with their parents, Adrian is close with his separated parents. Adrian believes in living a principled life, while the others believe that their society is fatally flawed.

During their school years, a student named Robson commits suicide. Rumors circle that he did this after his girlfriend became pregnant, and the boy’s suicide becomes a topic of discussion among the friends. Tony and his two friends fear living a non-spectacular life more than anything else, but Adrian is content to simply be happy and live a good life, not caring whether he is remembered in stories. The boys eventually graduate and go their own ways. Adrian earns a scholarship to Cambridge, while Tony starts dating a girl named Veronica Ford. Although he and Veronica are happy for a time, they argue over his taste in music and he gets a bad impression of her family. When he visits Veronica’s house at one point, her mother vaguely warns him about her daughter. When Veronica comes to London to meet Tony’s friends, she hits it off with Adrian immediately, and the two form a close connection. Tony resents this, and it leads to a breakup. Soon afterwards, he and Veronica have casual sex, but she becomes enraged when he doesn’t want to get back together. He later receives a letter from Adrian asking for permission to date Veronica. Tony writes a harsh letter in reply, condemning Veronica’s personality and accusing her of being dangerous. He never hears back from either of them after that, and his friendship with Adrian seems to be over.

Tony travels to the US, where he meets a young woman named Annie and falls for her. When he returns to London, he learns that Adrian has committed suicide. He finds out from his friends that Adrian seemed happy with Veronica, but apparently rejected the gift of life. He mourns Adrian with his friends, and the group separates again. He soon meets a woman named Margaret, marries her, has a daughter, and gets divorced. This is when the book shifts to the present day. Tony is now a retired hospital library assistant when he receives a letter from the estate of Veronica’s mother, who has left him 500 pounds and two documents. The first is a letter explaining the money, and the second document wills Adrian’s diary to Tony. The diary is still with Veronica, but when he emails her to try to get the diary, she responds with the words “blood money.” She eventually sends him a page of the diary in which Adrian had been trying to turn relationships into mathematical formulas. Tony and Veronica eventually agree to a meeting.

The meeting is contentious, and Veronica gives Tony the letter he had sent them. He’s shocked in hindsight at how harsh it is, and begins to blame himself for Adrian’s death. They set up another meeting at a subway station, and Veronica shows Tony a mentally ill man who seems to know Veronica by her middle name. Tony believes that this man is Adrian and Veronica’s son; it confuses him that Adrian would commit suicide knowing he had a son. Tony emails Veronica to apologize, and Veronica tells him that he has misunderstood. He follows the young, mentally ill man to the pub, and learns that while Adrian is indeed the father, the mother was actually Veronica’s mother, and that her advanced age led to Adrian’s son’s mental illness. Tony ends the book, unnerved, and states that life is full of responsibility, but even more full of unrest.