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The child thrives until her fifth summer, when she drowns on a Cornish beach. The scene is replayed, but this time the doctor makes it through the snow and baby Ursula lives. A baby girl is born, and, in the absence of medical intervention, dies. The episode ends with the words: "Darkness fell." Next, we're back in 1910, with a snowstorm raging outside. A young woman named Ursula enters a coffee shop in Germany and shoots a man she addresses as "Führer". Life after Life is about being given that chance. "What if we had the chance to do it again and again … until we finally get it right?" asks one of the characters near the end. As with the Brodies, Atkinson steers with a light touch, despite the grimness of the subject matter. However, for those still keen on these discriminations, Life After Life is one of the "literary" ones.
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Atkinson is a literary writer who likes experimenting with different forms, and her books appeal to a huge audience, full stop. In reality, the distinction is superfluous. Life After Life was genius, superbly written, intricately detailed, and capable of an emotional resonance you won’t see coming.Aficionados of Kate Atkinson's novels – this is the eighth – will tell you that she writes two sorts: the "literary" kind, exemplified by her Whitbread Prize-winning debut Behind the Scenes at the Museum, and the Jackson Brodie crime thrillers. There truly aren’t enough adjectives in existence for me to properly describe how truly amazing I found this book to be. But what was even more amazing was finishing the story and fully grasping all the story lines that had been going on and having them all come together harmoniously. It was amazing to watch each scene transpire and be able to witness how one single act not only resulted in evading death (the second time around of course) but how drastically different her life often was.
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I think it also meant that sometimes we need to experience these imperfections in order to truly know how to “get it right”. As Ursula said, “We can never get it right, but we must try.” Life isn’t perfect, and even if you had multiple chances to go back and change things it still won’t be perfect. She may have avoided one obstacle she encountered in a previous life only to run into another. We can never get it right, but we must try.”ĭespite her multiple chances to “get it right”, Ursula did not always succeed. We only have one after all, we should try and do our best. “No point in thinking, you just have to get on with life.
I found it best to simply read, absorb, and watch the story unfold without putting too much thought into it or keeping notes regarding what is happening with each date (speaking from personal experience, it’s completely unnecessary). There’s a constant flipping back and forth between time and it was supremely difficult to determine which story went with which one, however it all comes together in the end. The writing was flawless, albeit a tad hard to grasp at first. She uses these bits of knowledge from these previous scenes of life to “get it right” and to change the outcome of her life now. Each time she dies (and returns) she obtains a sense of deja vu from her past lives. This is the story of Ursula Todd’s live(s), and of her death(s), and of how she lives when given a second chance.
“What if you had the chance to do it again and again, until you got it right? Would you do it?” Here is Kate Atkinson at her most profound and inventive, in a novel that celebrates the best and worst of ourselves. With wit and compassion, she finds warmth even in life's bleakest moments, and shows an extraordinary ability to evoke the past. Life After Life follows Ursula Todd as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. 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? During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale. Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Literary Fictionĭuring a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath.
Published by Reagan Arthur Books on March 14th 2013 This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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