Ian McEwan: A Writer’s Life

One of Britain’s most successful writers, Ian McEwan has made a career out of making up stories. But his new book, Lessons, contains a plot inspired by a secret his mother kept from him until her death: that she had given McEwan’s brother up for adoption. The author talks to correspondent Seth Doan about his latest novel, a meandering journey that spans a lifetime of love, child sexual abuse and missed opportunities.