On a chilly February day two old friends meet in the throng outside a crematorium to pay their last respects to Molly Lane. Both Clive Linley and Vernon Halliday had been Molly's lovers in the days before they reached their current eminence, Clive as Britain's most successful modern composer, Vernon as editor of the quality broadsheet, "The Judge". Gorgeous, feisty Molly had other lovers too, notably Julian Garmony, Foreign Secretary, a notorious right-winger tipped to be the next prime minister. In the days that follow Molly's funeral, Clive and Vernon will make a pact that will have consequences neither has foreseen. Each will make a disastrous moral decision, their friendship will be tested to its limits and Julian Garmony will be fighting for his political life. A contemporary morality tale that is as profound as it is witty, this short novel is perhaps the most purely enjoyable fiction Ian McEwan has ever written. And why Amsterdam? What happens there to Clive and Vernon is the most delicious shock in a novel brimming with surprises.

伊恩•麥剋尤恩（1948—），本科畢業於布萊頓的薩塞剋斯大學，於東安吉利大學取得碩士學位。從一九七四年開始，麥剋尤恩在倫敦定居，次年發錶的第一部中短篇集就得到瞭毛姆文學奬。此後他的創作生涯便與各類奬項的入圍名單互相交織，其中《阿姆斯特丹》獲布剋奬，《時間的孩子》獲惠特布萊德奬，《贖罪》獲全美書評人大奬。近年來，隨著麥剋尤恩在主流文學圈獲得越來越高的評價，在圖書市場上創造越來越可觀的銷售記錄，他的名字，已經成為當今英語文壇上“奇跡”的同義詞。