Customer Reviews

Life After Life (Unabridged)

5 star:		(272)
4 star:		(95)
3 star:		(66)
2 star:		(35)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

`Don't you wonder sometimes,' Ursula said. `If just one small thing had been changed, in the past, I mean....surely things would be different.'

I admit I am a big fan of Kate Atkinson's writing, having read most of her previous novels, with a particular fondness for the Jackson Brodie stories, my favourite probably being `When Will There Be Good News?'. I was therefore so excited to hear about a new novel coming from her and filled with great anticipation upon starting to read.

Life After Life didn't disappoint me; I think this is a very special book in many ways. It is imbued with the sparkling prose and the dark humour that is so often evident in Kate Atkinson's works. But this book features something rather clever and wonderful in terms of the structure and storyline.

The main character, Ursula Todd is born in 1910, during a heavy snowstorm, but sadly dies immediately, there's no time for the doctor to reach her. Then we read that Ursula Todd is born in 1910 during a heavy snowstorm, and lives. She has another chance, another start at life, and this pattern, this unique quality, stays with her as she lives, and lives again, and changes the direction of her life, having chance after chance to get it just right. What a premise!

We accompany Ursula as she lives through many of the major events of the twentieth century, with her personal highs and lows recounted, then changed, as she has another chance at her life, and then another. She takes a different route, and a different course is set. Kate Atkinson writes of the personal experiences of one woman in a way that makes for compelling reading. I loved Ursula's family and thought they were also all vividly brought to life, in particular her mother Sylvie. However clever the structure, I never felt distanced from Ursula as a character, as a woman. She endures some of the hardest times, the saddest events, and the reader grows close to her and hopes for better next time.

I wasn't sure quite what to expect in terms of how this novel would work, but I gave myself time to get into the novel, through the early, often very short episodes as Ursula begins to find her way. I was soon drawn into Ursula's life, her family, the events, and I was keen to return to them every time I picked the book up, little knowing what would await me.

When Ursula lives again, sometimes very little has changed, sometimes a lot is different. There are some thrilling moments, dramatic and tragic; then the reader realises that there is another chance at the story and can breathe again - it's quite an experience reading this book. Usually after another go, things are better, but Ursula's life demonstrates that there are always hard choices, difficult relationships; there is always some sadness, even when she has had more than one chance to live through a particular time. It's a powerful and emotional experience to read this story.

This is by turns a surprising, unnerving, moving and rewarding read and it sets itself apart with a clever structure to the narrative and a distinctive main character who we live through different experiences with, over and over again, as we read. It's a fascinating and fantastic concept that really made me think as I read. What does this mean for fate? What if we could all change things, or go back and have a second chance?

A seemingly small event can change the direction of a life completely: a chance encounter with a stranger who harms you or a conversation that detains you which means you miss bumping into the person, a meeting with the German you fall in love with and marry or being helped up from a fall by an Englishman. Life is full of moments which change the direction a person travels in and we have all wished we could go back and change something, or do it over again in a different way. And Life After Life explores this theme intricately, with sympathy, compassion and superb writing and plotting.

Ursula keeps being born, in 1910, living, dying and being born again within the same family but her decisions and reactions to events change, sometime nudged by a sense that something must be avoided at all costs, and her life keeps going off in different directions as she lives through the turbulent events of the first half of the 20th century. Sometimes you desperately want her to die so that a particular cycle will end and in others you want her to fight through and succeed.

Atkinson crafts Ursula's repeated lives beautifully and you are with her, rooting for her, in every one. But it is not just Ursula we get to know through her successive lives but also her family, friends, brief acquaintances and villains. We see not only the different directions Ursula takes but the impact of life and events on the people around her. Even the characters who make brief appearances are rich with detail and the main characters continue to grow through Ursula's lives along with our greater intimacy with Ursula herself. How many times can we read of a character being born? Well the answer is many times and still never be tired of it. A single event in Ursula's life can be seen from multiple viewpoints and as we progress through different lives we see tiny and different details which make the repeated experience of the event richer and more complete.

Life After Life deserves 5 stars for the complexity of its plotting, the depth of characterisation, the scope of the story and for being a magnificent piece of writing. This is a novel that stayed with me long after the final sentence.

First Sentence: A fug of tobacco smoke and damp clammy air hit her as she entered the café.

Ursula is born...and dies...and is born again. Each life lasts a little longer. With some, we pick up where the previous left off. With others, she has been able to change her course and, possibly, the course of history.

Atkinson uses her unique voice to tell us a story of reincarnation, but not in the usual woo-woo sense. In fact, she does not follow the classic philosophy of reincarnation as the character of Ursula is always reborn at the same point in time as the same person. You know each life will end; you know the next life will show zen-like progression. The difference, however, is that there are times when Ursula can alter an event which will then change the course for that life.

This is no romantic fantasy; some lives are decidedly unpleasant. What the book lacked, for me, is a sense of connection. The one certain element, in real life, is that life will end. Whether there is reincarnation or eternity, we don't know and it is the not knowing which gives life import and significance. Atkinson has removed that gravitas. While this makes the reading of each life interesting, it does remove some sense of really caring about the fate of the character. What is also missing is any real sense of how Ursula's life fits in with those around her; how she impacts them, and they her.

That's not to say, one doesn't become involved. Absolutely, you do but almost in the way of watching an inevitable accident. In that, it reminded me of "The Time Traveler's Wife" as one chapter is painfully grim. In another, Ursula commits an act which could have changed world history. Unfortunately, we're given no follow-up; we have to surmise the outcome for ourselves as her life starts again.

Atkinson does provide us with a character about whose life we become curious. She creates an excellent sense of time. The pre-war and World War II years become real to those of us who didn't live them. She writes excellent dialogue. There are elements of philosophy, satire and humor, as well as introspection..."Ursula craved solitude but she hated loneliness, a conundrum that she couldn't even begin to solve."

"Life After Life" is a fascinating read; it's compelling and certainly kept me reading to the end. It is intriguing and thought-provoking, occasionally grim and rather depressing, and undoubtedly not for everyone. Atkinson is an excellent author, one who ordinarily ranks among my favorites. Although I am very glad I read this book, I can't recommend it unreservedly.

LIFE AFTER LIFE (Novel-Ursula-England-1910) - Good
Atkinson, Kate - Standalone
A Reagan Arthur Book, Little, Brown and Company, 2013

I have always enjoyed Kate Atkinson's writing and have read all of her novels.
In`Life after life is the story of an ordinary young girl called Ursula Todd who is born during a snow storm in 1910. But Ursula appears to be far from ordinary as she re-lives various aspects of her life time, and time again. Kate Atkinson skillfully uses the `groundhog day' device in an inventive and compelling manner to produce a powerful and sometimes moving plot.
The book is tightly plotted and really kept me enraptured. But what I really admire about her writing is the way she is able to really evoke the minute details of everyday family life between the two world wars with her usual acute attention to detail. Engaging and extraordinarily clever a remarkable read. To me Kate Atkinson's writing almost has the feel of an modern day Dickens!

This is an extremely thought-provoking book which made me exclaim out loud several times as I was reading it - either from surprise, dread or the ever-present undercurrent of déjà-vu. It seems to embody such a sense of might-have been, if only... and explores very adroitly indeed how we are fashioned by our circumstances. I loved it and have been singing its praises far and wide.

Great idea for a book but it goes on for so long and then just ends with no outcome so didn't quite get the point. If that was the case then the book could have been a lot shorter.

I'm undecided about this novel. It is more of a move back towards her original fiction, which I kind of liked - some of it I liked a lot. I really liked the Jackson Brodie series of books also. This is a bit much. There are parts where it is incredibly moving and many of the characters are well developed...but there were other sections of the book where I nearly gave up reading because I found it intensely boring and actually irritating and, even having accepted that reality didn't figure in the reading experience, implausible to the point of ridiculousness. On the whole I think the good parts outweighed the bad but only just. Confirmed Kate Atkinson fans will probably find this okay, but don't bother if you didn't like her other books.

Have you ever wished you could have your time again?

Would you change anything that happened? Change the course of history?

Would you go left or go right?

What if you could keep going back until YOU got it right?

Is your right the same as someone else's?

Kate Atkinson explores such vast questions through her latest novel. A novel which is far away from her previous Jackson Brodie ones. Here we meet Ursula Todd who is born (or is she) in 1910 in England and we turn each page as she goes through her life and how milestones are reached (or not). Worldwide events are recalled throughout the minutiae of Ursula's life through her family, her bumptious brother Maurice, Teddy the younger brother who resembles the soft fur like creature a child carries around through childhood and Pamela her sister, the practical thoughtful one with a propensity centred on family life. Into that mix are their parents, Hugh and Sylvie Todd and their rather eccentric embarrassing Aunt Izzie. Mrs Glover and Bridget are the supporting characters in the novel as well as the support that keeps the English family home running, for the Todd's to reside in.

War, death, class, birth, love, abortion, marriage, friendship, unrequited love is all dealt with and acknowledged in this novel. The descriptions are poignant and graphic when they need to be and subtle and soulful where the reader needs to absorb the beauty of the writing.

This is a clever novel, it has more than one strand to it but you need to be aware that all these strands contain the same people. It was confusing, I felt confused but by sticking with the writing and because I knew the author's work this drew me in. I really wanted to be able to help at points when Ursula was going down the wrong path, but even if you think that this path may change she may not actually be able to change what has happened. As the book progresses you begin to wonder which is the real story - and actually upon reflection I know what `I' think will be the real story but the next reader might be captured by something else and disagree. This is rather a clever idea and one I was not aware I was experiencing until I was almost at the end of the book.

A book that has stayed with me long after I have finished it and actually one that needs rereading and will certainly be featured on many award longlists and shortlists I am sure in the coming months.

I was so excited by the premise of this story and pre-ordered it to start as soon as it was published. Everything about it disappointed me, I've read it twice before deciding on this review. Ursula didn't engage with me, i couldn't bring myself to care as much about her on any of the family/household as I wanted to. Since being overjoyed with 'Behind the Scenes at the Museum' I've loved every-one of Kates books, I hope this is just a blip.

The device of rebirth and reliving a life did not really work and the story was quite dull. It was a bit like The Timetravellers Wife and I might have enjoyed this more if I hadn't read that already.