Second episode of Nutshell by the acclaimed author Ian McEwan and read by the actor Tim McInnerny.

Ian McEwan's latest novel is a modern-day reworking of Hamlet told from the unusual perspective of an unborn child. 'Bounded in the nutshell' of Trudy's womb, the foetus is witness to a plot. Unable to escape the confines of the uterus, he is forced to listen on his mother Ger(Trudy) and her lover Claude as they plan to murder his father, a hapless poet called John Cairncross. The ambitious but deeply banal Claude is of course brother to John and so villainous uncle to the unborn narrator. As witness to all these goings-ons, the nine-month old resident of Trudy's womb keeps up a running commentary that is both tragic and hugely entertaining, as he muses on his own future and becomes determined to subvert their plan and avenge the murder. Nutshell's Denmark is an elegant Georgian terraced house in London St. John's Wood that has become shabby and dilapidated, but the property developing uncle Claude has designs on it.

Today Claude visits John and goes shopping for poison.

Tim McInnerny is known for his many roles on television and stage appearing in films such Johnny English and TV such as Sherlock and the recent National Treasure. Early in his career he featured as Lord Percy Percy and Captain Darling in the Blackadder series.

Ian McEwan is a critically acclaimed author of short stories and novels for adults. His novels include The Child in Time, which won the 1987 Whitbread Novel of the Year, The Cement Garden, Enduring Love, Amsterdam which won the 1998 Booker Prize, Atonement, Saturday, On Chesil Beach, Solar, Sweet Tooth and The Children Act. Show less