Three years after his first collection of short stories caused a stir across literary circles, and in the same year as his first novel,

The Cement Garden

(1978) appeared, Ian McEwan published a second volume even more experimental and disturbing than its predecessor. While

First Love, Last Rites

(1975) had shocked many with its grimy evocation of twentieth-century attitudes and social structures,

In Between the Sheets

(1978) pushed further the limits of realism into the frightening realm of the fantastic, earning its author the nickname “Ian Macabre”. The seven stories that form

In Between the Sheets

cross temporal and spatial boundaries not attempted in

First Love, Last Rites

, moving for the first time into a post-nuclear age future in “Two Fragments: Saturday and Sunday, March…

2221 words

Citation: Gildersleeve, Jessica. "In Between the Sheets". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 November 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4514, accessed 19 March 2024.]

4514 In Between the Sheets 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.