Life After Life: A Novel

Kate Atkinson

Apr 2013 · Sold by Reagan Arthur Books

About this ebook

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?

Darkly comic, startlingly poignant, and utterly original: this is Kate Atkinson at her absolute best.

Ratings and reviews

Set in the early 20th century and spanning (in one life) nearly 60 years, Kate Atkinson raises questions about choice and consequence. A truly unique novel that gives animation to the eternal recurrence as discussed by Nietzsche in The Gay Science. Ursula Todd is born again and again with each life containing new struggles, tests and triumphs- many of which end with her death. The summary on the back of the book says this, “What power and force can one woman exert over the fate of civilization- if she only has the chance?” And in The Gay Science Nietzsche says this, “What I do or do not do now is as important for everything that is yet to come as is the greatest event of the past: in this tremendous perspective of effectiveness all actions appear equally great and small. ” Our day to day choices are both life-altering and insignificant. To what degree will each choice affect our journey? As evidenced by Ursula’s multiple attempts to alter her course through life and, though it may change for some time, she eventually finds her way back to a course much like the last ( war torn Europe, poor taste in men, and that darn basement in London.) Dark at times and witty at others, Life After Life is a great philosophical work masking as a fictional story.

This book manages to be suspenseful, funny, heartbreakingly sad, poignant and continually surprising. This is a must-read book. Allison's ability to make you care very much for her characters very quickly and her beautifully written prose make this book practically a force of nature. Every time Ursula is reborn and faced with a chance to make a new decision, you will be on the edge of your seat cheering her on but afraid to read further for the suspense.

This book was so all over the place...halfway through the book it took this odd turn and it stopped holding my interest. This book was great for putting me to sleep quickly but that is about it. I couldn't even finish the last 25 % of the book.

About the author

Kate Atkinson's first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, was named England's Whitbread Book of the Year in 1996. Since then, she has written eleven more ground-breaking, bestselling books. She lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.