Kate Atkinson's Life After Life
OK, I am basically just going "AAAHHHHH" after reading this book, because it is fantastic and also kind of insane. I'd say it hearkens back to Atkinson's earlier, pre-Jackson Brodie novels, but it doesn't hearken back to anything ever. I mean, the novel STARTS with the main character shooting Hitler in 1930! I guess I should say something about the premise here, which is that young Ursula, born in England in 1910, immediately dies. But then on the next page, things start over. And it keeps happening. I will say that it's a little upsetting to read about a child dying in multiple horrible ways, even knowing she'll be resurrected on the next page. And it doesn't get any easier when she's older--at one point, I was actually hoping she'd die, just so she could have a do-over on the next page and not have to deal with such horrible experiences (or at least, get a chance to stop them). Because it's her growing self-awareness that makes this book so fascinating--as well as her wartime experiences (during both World Wars) and her life with her family and friends. And seeing how one little thing can change EVERYTHING. This is a novel to corral a friend into reading just so you can talk about it, because it's one to talk about. As the kids say: AMAZEBALLS. A.
Kate Atkinson writes so beautifully. I never want her books to be over. She is so relentless with her main characters, though - she never seems to want them to feel a real connection when others. Ursula made me feel just as lonely as Jackson Brodie.
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