Life After Life

by Kate Atkinson

Published Nov. 12, 2013 by Little, Brown and Company.

ISBN:: 978-0-316-17648-4

(8 reviews)

What if you could live again and again, until you got it right? On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born to an English banker and his wife. She dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual. For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in a variety of ways, while the young century marches on towards its second cataclysmic world war. Does Ursula's apparently infinite number of lives give her the power to save the world from its inevitable destiny? And if she can -- will she?

1 edition

Rick Klau reviewed Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Review of 'Life After Life' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Not the easiest book to acclimate to - by a longshot. Can't actually think of another book I've read like it - Atkinson does things with the narrative I've never experienced before. Characters appear, and vanish, and re-appear in different circumstances - with frequency. It's going to take a while for the various layers to really sink in. But I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed not knowing how the book would play out, and the lack of any real bearings throughout.

It took a while to decide I would stick with it - the first 1/3 or so of the book can feel pretty jarring. But I'm glad I stuck with it, and am eager to read more of her work. Recommended.