This kaleidoscopic novel, which considers the many different paths one life can take, paints a portrait of the 20th Century like no other in an incredible feat of storytelling and imagination.
'...a box of delights.' - Hilary Mantel
What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right?
During a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath. During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale.
What if there were second chances? And third chances? In fact an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you eventually be able to save the world from its own inevitable destiny? And would you even want to?
Life After Life follows Ursula Todd as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. With wit and compassion, Kate Atkinson finds warmth even in life's bleakest moments, and shows an extraordinary ability to evoke the past. Here she is at her most profound and inventive, in a novel that celebrates the best and worst of ourselves.
Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
ISBN: 9780552776639
Number of pages: 624
Weight: 419 g
Dimensions: 198 x 127 x 37 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Kate Atkinson's new novel is a box of delights. Ingenious in construction, indefatigably entertaining, it grips the reader's imagination on the first page and never lets go. If you wish to be moved and astonished, read it. And if you want to give a dazzling present, buy it for your friends.' - Hilary Mantel *
'Truly brilliant...This is a rare book that you want, Ursula-like, to start again the minute you have finished.' - Helen Rumbelow, The Times
'Life After Life gives us a heroine whose fictional underpinning is permanently exposed, whose artificial status is never in doubt; and yet one who feels painfully, horribly real to us.' - Alex Clark, The Guardian
'A dizzying and dazzling tour de force.' - Amber Pearson, The Daily Mail
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“Perfection”
A truly moving and ingeniously woven tale. I'm still puzzled as to how Atkinson managed to tell the same story over and again without boring me once. The chapters set during the Blitz were some of the most... More
“Slightly disappointed”
I do like to read books on review from people, but I was slightly disappointed with this latest novel from Kate Atkinson. Having read many of her other novels, I anticipated a brilliant read.
Whilst it was a good read...
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“Bizarre & Brilliant!”
This book is a fantastic read although it can be very confusing at times which I believe is kind of the point to it. I'd definitely recommend reading it if you're looking for something different! Its not... More
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