What We Can Know (2025) by Ian McEwan is a speculative literary novel set in 2119, in a United Kingdom transformed into an archipelago due to climate change and a past nuclear catastrophe. The story follows Tom Metcalfe, a literature scholar at the University of the South Downs, who becomes obsessed with uncovering a lost poem by the poet Francis Blundy.

This poem, titled A Corona for Vivien, was read aloud at a 2014 dinner party and was considered a masterpiece by those who heard it. However, only one copy existed, and it has since disappeared. Tom’s quest to find this poem leads him to question the nature of memory, history, and the reliability of personal narratives.

The novel explores themes of nostalgia, the passage of time, and the moral consequences of historical neglect. It contrasts the vibrant, albeit flawed, past with the desolate future, highlighting humanity’s failure to address climate change and other global crises. Through Tom’s journey, McEwan delves into the complexities of human relationships, the search for meaning, and the elusive nature of truth. What We Can Know is a profound reflection on how we perceive and reconstruct history, and the stories we choose to remember¹.