Life After Life
Ratings154
Average rating3.6
If you are interested in this book don't read the major reviews because they all give away important points about Life after Life.
Kate Atkinson breaks the rules of writing in this novel about a woman, Ursula Todd, who lives her life over and over again, each time improving on the one before. Each time we make our way through Ursula's story we see her supporting characters from a different perspective, with different motives and different lives.
It takes about 100 pages to get the hang of Atkinson's structure but then you easily settle into the pattern and enjoy the ride.
Imagine a writer of beautiful prose who is frustrated with having to select one good storyline for her novel and then not having too. Kate Atkinson's gets to apply her beautiful prose to many possible outcomes. Along the way you will be wrapped in the rich history of England between 1910 and 1967. Enjoy!
Atkinson is attempting some pretty wild nonlinear timey-wimey stuff here. I found the first and last third exhilarating, racing to see how and why and where Ursula would reset. The middle was so tough to get through I considered DNF'ing.
Part of it is I struggle with this style of historical fiction writing- very set on telling the story of a middle-upper-class girl and her boring dailies. I wanted intrigue, action, misery, setting-grounded magic in reincarnation. If both of those sound great to you, you'll love this.
If you struggle at all with narrative justification of victim blaming rape/abuse victims, you'll hate this. I struggled with those rounds of Ursula's life, and it left a very sour taste in my mouth that never left.
Pretty good. Will not read again.
An interesting concept. The more I think I this about one, and the more distance I get from it, the more I like it. Loved the family dynamics, love Atkinson's writing style, and appreciate the way the story and its consolation weren't so blatant–there are a lot of possible interpretations for what exactly was going on in this book and what the overall purpose was.
Throughout the span of WWI to the 1960s, Ursula is unaware of dying multiple deaths and being reborn time and again. She does, however, have a “sixth sense” – a sense of déjà vu appears whenever the most stressful or horrific episodes in her life are to occur. Because of this “sixth sense,” Ursula is able to change her own history and make her future futures (?) a little bit more content and livable. The writing is just beautiful and the author's attention to detail makes for very realistic and vivid characters.
