Redcar and Cleveland Council's libraries are coping with Atonement-mania as moviemakers move into Redcar to film author Ian McEwan's international bestseller.
The work on creating the set, transforming a stretch of the town's Esplanade into 1940s Dunkirk, has already attracted hundreds of people to the town.
When this week's hectic filming schedule is complete, involving 1,000 extras, a three-day localised daytime road closure on Newcomen Terrace, between Henry Street and Turner, next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - August 30, August 31 and September 1 - will allow the dismantling of scenery on top of the former Olympia Health Club.
That work can be viewed by the public throughout the three days - and there has already been great interest in a special 'Atonement' exhibition at Redcar Central Library.
The wartime story is certainly capturing readers' imagination with increased supplies of 13 ordinary copies, one spoken word and two large print versions, already out to borrowers and more on order to keep pace.
The exhibition, mounted in the library foyer, features a showcase with World War II helmets, shell casings and ammunition, as well as request forms for borrowers.
The Council's Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Tourism Councillor Dave Fitzpatrick said: "I think people are delighted with the fact that the film is here - it's creating a terrific amount of interest right across the Borough and beyond.
"And what a positive spin-off we've got with people wanting to read the book, too. It's a real win, win situation for everyone."
The story of Atonement, rated 'McEwan's best novel so far, his masterpiece', is:
“On the hottest day of the summer of 1935, 13-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her is Robbie Turner, her childhood friend who, like Cecilia, has recently come down from Cambridge.
“By the end of the day, the lives of all three will have been changed for ever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had not even imagined at its start and will have become victims of the younger girl's imagination. Briony will have witnessed mysteries and committed a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.”
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