Life After Life

by Kate Atkinson
6 comments 5 stars
 
Life After Life, Kate Atkinson

Kate Atkinson's stunning new novel, about a woman who lives through the most turbulent events of the 20th century, including the London Blitz, and which asks: What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right?

Available Formats

  • Trade Paperback
    $32.95 RRP
    ISBN: 9780385618687
    Published: 18/03/2013
    Imprint: Doubleday
    Extent: 480 pages
  • Hardback
    $49.95 RRP
    ISBN: 9780385618670
    Published: 15/03/2013
    Imprint: Doubleday
    Extent: 480 pages
  • EBook
    CHECK RETAILER PRICE
    ISBN: 9781409043799
    Published: 14/03/2013
    Imprint: Transworld Digital
    Extent: 480 pages
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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, she finds warmth even in life's bleakest moments, and shows an extraordinary ability to evoke the past. Here isKate Atkinson at her most profound and inventive, in a novel that celebrates the best and worst of ourselves.

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Win 1 of 10 Copies of LIFE AFTER LIFE Competition closes 31/05/2013
Win 1 of 10 Copies of LIFE AFTER LIFE

Win a copy of our Book of the Month for May 2013 – LIFE AFTER LIFE – the new novel by the number one bestselling author, Kate Atkinson.

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"There aren't enough breathless adjectives to describe Life After Life: Dazzling, witty, moving, joyful, mournful, profound. Wildly inventive, deeply felt. Hilarious. Humane.
Simply put: it's ONE OF THE BEST NOVELS I'VE READ THIS CENTURY." - Gillian Flynn, No. 1 New York Times author of Gone Girl, and Sharp Objects

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    MrsMichelleS5 stars

    18 April 2013 at 7:28pm

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    When I write a review I try to avoid just writing a synopsis of the story and spoiling it for everyone. But for this book, I do have to explain some of the plot to you….this book is about a young girl named Ursula who dies. And then is reborn. Again. And again. And again. And each life is a little, and sometimes a lot, different. It takes a little while to get into the book and get your head around what is happening. It can also be a little confusing so you must concentrate on the dates that are shown at the top of each chapter. This is your reference point to what stage of life you are at. This book is also a little strange in that as Ursula lives out her lives, some are so bad and she makes so many bad choices that you are almost willing her to die so she can start again. And conversely some lives are so wonderful that is so disappointing when she does die and has to start again. It does raise some life issues – what is our purpose in life? And you feel for the young Ursula who is sort of aware of these previous lives and suffers delusions and deja vu regularly and a gut instinct that gets her into and out of trouble. The ending is a little unexpected and a little unsatisfying. But this is definitely a worthwhile read. Highly Recommended.