Ian McEwan has been accused of plagiarizing parts of "Atonement" (the nursing in London during the war section of the novel). Accusers insist that McEwan copied a wartime memoir called "No Time For Romance" that was written by Lucilla Andrews and published in London in 1977.
McEwan admits to reading the memoir and using parts of it as research. In fact, in the acknowledgements section of the novel, McEwan thanks Andrews and references her memoir as a contributing factor to the book. The author insists he has done nothing wrong, as do most writers and literary academics. In particular, famed author Thomas Pynchon has come to the defense of McEwan's case by publishing a letter in the Guardian defending the writer and his influences, a significant difference to plagiarism.
