Life After Life: A Novel

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It is a complicated story that begins with both the birth and death of Ursula Todd and moves in different directions as Ursula’s life is saved or rewritten, leaving the reader to wonder whether we are seeing how fate could have taken different turns or if Ursula herself is somehow able to rewind tragedies and try to get them right the next time. Set in England and beginning in 1910, this story spans both World Wars, but focuses on the period during World War II and the heavy toll it took on Europe. Ursula’s different life paths place her at the center of the German bombings in London for much of the book. In a separate turn of life, she spends time in Germany and twice almost manages to rewrite Adolf Hitler’s fate. I spent some time reading reviews of Life After Life and, instead of finding all four- and five-star reviews, I found a considerable number of reviews that complained about how complicated and hard to follow this story is. I think there is some truth in these comments and the only way to thoroughly enjoy Life After Life is to study it and take notes - it is worth this effort! I read Life After Life on my Kindle and, although I like paging back and forth with a real book, the “Search” feature made it easy to check on the many details. As I did all this, I started to see Ursula’s lives as a kind of river, with tributaries taking it in different directions. There are many things I like about Atkinson’s writing style in Life After Life. She makes many references to animals, particularly foxes, rabbits, dogs and cats, and ties both their influence and fates into the characters. For example, a seemingly unimportant dog, later named Lucky, changes Ursula’s fate and has a strong positive influence on both Ursula and her brother Teddy. I like the wholeness of this idea, humans sharing the world with nature and other creatures. I also like the way Atkinson repeats and ties together phrases and presents them in different scenarios. The phrase, “Practice makes perfect” is particularly meaningful as Ursula’s lives rewind and play back with different twists. Sylvie’s frequent comment, “Needs must” is repeated by her daughters at important times and is an example of their mother’s influence, despite their emotional distance from her. In addition, I think the author’s use of dialogue is great, especially when she ends chapters with a short comment. What else is there for Izzie to say, for example, when Ursula shows up at her door twice with bad news? “You’d better come in then.” That says it all. Atkinson uses small details that change as this story moves forward and backwards. These details appear most notably in the scenes with Bridget and the Spanish flu. Ursula’s strong desire to save Bridget leads to a variety of outcomes as do her efforts to save Nancy from an awful fate. Many iterations of these scenes lead to different outcomes, some ironic, some heartbreaking and I think Atkinson touches on the “What if?” way of thinking that we all experience in our lives. I think the repetition of Ursula’s apartment being bombed is the strongest part of the story and Atkinson is able to describe these experiences in a way that shows what it must have been like for people living in London during the Blitz. She tells the story through an omniscient point of view and her use of grim humor shows how Ursula is able to distance herself from this destruction and death. I always have favorite characters and this time it’s Hugh. He loves Ursula, makes his point with Sylvie and makes you wish to know someone like him. Evil characters such as Maurice are easy to hate and there are plenty of in-between and complicated characters with complicated traits that make you feel conflicted. There’s a lot more to Life After Life, most notably Hitler’s treatment of Jews and the ultimate “What if?” question: Could the Holocaust have been prevented if Hitler had been killed before he became evil? Ursula asks Ralph, “Don’t you wonder sometimes, if just one small thing had been changed, in the past, I mean. If Hitler had died at birth, or if someone had kidnapped him as a baby and brought him up in – I don’t know, say, a Quaker household – surely things would be different.” And Ralph’s answer – “But nobody knows what’s going to happen. And anyway he might have turned out just the same, Quakers or no Quakers. You might have to kill him instead of kidnapping him. Could you do that? Could you kill a baby?” So in the end, there is still this dissatisfying answer about fate and stopping evil. An open ending leaves many questions to this book. But friendship and love and happiness find a way to develop in even the most terrible scenarios of this story and I think this is the author’s message of hope. Ignore the negative reviews. This book is definitely worth the effort!

I loved the first half of this book, particularly the beautiful writing and the excellent characterization. Ursula Todd is born a seemingly infinite number of times in England in 1910, and each time she dies, she is given another chance to start over. I loved seeing how seemingly small decisions completely changed Ursula's character and the course of her life. For the most part, Atkinson successfully depicts Ursula's different paths without being too repetitive. A little over halfway, we are given a life that Ursula spends in Germany just before and during WWII, which was, for various reasons, my least favorite story line. I was simultaneously relieved and puzzled that the story didn't linger here for too long (more on that later). Like some other reviewers, I found the ending to be a bit abrupt and confusing. I also thought that about 100 pages could be trimmed out without losing much of the story. If you're going to ask your reader to commit to 529 pages, you'd better make sure that all those pages are necessary. I didn't think they were, hence the one-star deduction from a book that otherwise could have been truly spectacular. Despite its few flaws, it is remarkable and impressive and worth the read. The story lines that weren't quite as effective for me, besides the Germany life, were the ones where no real explanation was given for the circumstances in Ursula's life. Ursula dies, in one way or another, and Atkinson backtracks to a previous point in her life where things are completely different -- maybe she lives somewhere else or has a different lover -- but we aren't really given an explanation for why things are different this time around. I would have liked to maybe see fewer lifetimes, but with clearer consequences of her actions. (This is also why the Derek lifetime was one of my favorites, even though one of the most tragic.) The rest of my review contains a discussion of more specific plot points and is therefore marked as a spoiler. If you haven't read the book, you should probably stop reading here! **spoilers** More on the Germany section: I felt that the inclusion of actual historical characters was a bit of a throwaway. It only serves to set up Ursula's later assassination attempt on Hitler, which seemed a bit of a footnote in itself. It was as if Atkinson felt like anyone living her life over and over again in pre-WWII Europe would of course want to try to kill Hitler, so she needed to include it in the book, even though that wasn't really what the book was about. I was also puzzled why there was never any mention of Jurgen in any of her other lifetimes. All of the later scenarios seemed to include her trip to Munich, so presumably she would have met Jurgen, even if she didn't marry him. I didn't understand why after her Germany life, she went back to being single in the rest of her lives. Why was Crighton a part of nearly every scenario but not Jurgen? Even the detestable Derek made a reappearance towards the end. I would have liked to see versions where she fled to England with Frieda, or with Frieda and Jurgen. I liked seeing Ursula as a mother and would have liked more of this. Also, the last few scenes were confusing and again, there is no explanation given for the different scenarios toward the end. And why end with Mrs. Haddock? It all left things very open-ended. Really there wasn't much of a conclusion to the story.

Tous les livres de Kate Atkison sont excellents. Et à chaque fois on trouve le nouveau livre encore meilleur que le précédent. Son écriture, ses personnages et ses descriptions historiques nous font littéralement vivre le livre. Dans ce livre seul le prologue de deux pages est raté. L'histoire qui part sur un principe de science-fiction (plusieurs morts et renaissances pour la même vie) ne donne pas du tout l'impression d'un livre de science-fiction. C'est très littéraire tout en étant accessible, extrêmement bien documenté historiquement. Il y a des moments d'émotion très poignants notamment à Berlin lorsque les russes s'emparent de la ville. Je n'en dis pas plus pour ne pas divulgâcher (comme disent nos amis québécois) une partie très importante de l'histoire.

When I began reading the book, I was confused by the timeline (new incarnations of the same character over and over) and a little miffed; however, I loved the writing style and the characterization. By fifty or so pages, I decided I loved the way it was written, loved the story/stories and could hardly put it down. It is not a time travel story, rather it uses time as an interesting device to tell the story/stories of a family and the wars they experienced, most spectacularly the Blitz of London in World War II. And it is brilliant, absolutely brilliant. But, beware, we don't really get to know Ursula, the main character, until the middle of the book, and even then, there is a distance from her. I suspect it was purposeful. The other characters come to life at the outset and there is a real life feel to every incarnation. There are some story lines that are never fleshed out or finished and, for some reason, that makes it more lifelike. There are only a handful of books that I re-read; this will be one.

Loisir

"Life After Life" hat mich gefesselt. Mit Spannung hab ich Ursulas unterschiedliche Lebenswege verfolgt - und da ist wirklich alles dabei, was man sich für die Zeit zwischen 1910 und dem Ende des 2. Weltkriegs vorstellen kann. Die Lebenswege starten bei Ersticken durch die Nabelschnur, beinhalten die Spanische Grippe, gewalttätige Ehemänner, Verhungern im Berlin vor der Kapitulation und vor allem dem Bombenhagel des London Blitz. So gelingt es der Autorin, die damalige Zeit in ein gewaltiges Sittengemälde einzufügen und Ursula in ihr Zentrum zu stellen als die Figur, die alles (grandios Historische, aber auch häuslich Triviale) durchlebt. Im Gegensatz zu anderen Rezensenten fand ich Ursulas Erfahrungen mit dem Dritten Reich höchst gelungen. Ihr Blick auf den Führer, ihre Wahrnehmung des BDM, ihre Freundschaft mit Eva Braun, ihr Leben in den Kriegsjahren in Berlin, ihre Entschlossenheit, die Wurzel allen Übels durch ein Attentat zu beseitigen - mir hat's sehr gefallen. Für mich wurde dadurch das Herzstück des Romans, der Blitz auf London, umso dreidimensionaler, Ursulas unermüdlicher Einsatz umso verständlicher. Kein Buch hat mir bisher den alltäglichen Umgang mit den Bombenangriffen so nahebringen können wie "Life After Life". Aber nicht nur das historische Setting ist gelungen, sondern auch die Entwicklung der Figuren. Nicht nur Ursula entwickelt sich weiter, lässt Passivität hinter sich und nimmt ihr Leben in die Hand, auch ihre Eltern und Geschwister werden immer dreidimensionaler in ihren unterschiedlichen Lebensentwürfen. Ein gelungenes Buch, selbst das Ende passt in seine Zeit. 5 Sterne.

Actual rating 4.5 Stars 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? Hilary Mantel called this one “A Box of Delights” and I cannot think of a better way to describe this book. Teddy read the words on the Cenotaph. “The Glorious Dead”. “Do you think they are? Glorious?” he asked. “Well they’re certainly dead”, Ursula said. “But the “Glorious” bit is to make us feel better I expect”. And that, for me, sums Ursula up in a nutshell. A fascinating protagonist, a multi-layered yet pragmatic human being and with a uniquely developed perspective on life. She is born. She dies. She lives again. In a brilliantly constructed narrative that you assume would become predictable but never does, Kate Atkinson weaves layer after layer of magical storytelling into a multi stranded, beautifully written, utterly compelling tale of one woman living through the winds of change. Offering her life after life to get it “right” as Ursula becomes more aware of herself and learns to trust her instinct sometimes it all hinges on the smallest of changes – a nuance – a simple twist of fate. During the reading of this novel it is easy, no almost compulsory, to imagine every separate decision or action we take sending the universe off into a different direction…EVERY life lived many times, not just Ursula’s – so many infinite possibilities. Somewhere out there is another version of you, living now, but in absolutely different circumstances. It feels real. As if we could… Can Ursula save herself from the heartbreaking loss of those she loves by simply turning a different corner? Will she ultimately be able to change the world? These are the questions you ask as you read – bravely entering each new strand of each new life and waiting for the turn of the tide, the opening of a door – will this be the one? It is heartbreaking at times, always always intriguing, never dull and without doubt one of the best novels I have read for the pure, unadulterated joy of the experience. If I had one tiny negative it would be that I am unsure of the ending. I’m not sure I understood it if I’m honest – what exactly Ms Atkinson was trying to convey. I’m still deciding even, whether it was terribly happy or hopelessly sad…either way I was a bit of an emotional wreck when I was done. Teary but not sure why. This is ultimately a story I shall return to in my head, and I definitely believe this is a novel that should be read more than once. I’m reasonably convinced that there is more to be had from it. Perhaps a different perspective on yet another life… All in all a fantastic book, even with the one small caveat – I think the point of that is, we all read differently – I am absolutely interested in hearing other viewpoints on this one. A dicussion book without a doubt. In fact if I could get an eclectic group of readers who have read it in a room with Kate Atkinson herself to discuss all the intriguing aspects – what she wanted to say as opposed to what people heard her say – THAT my friends would be an interesting afternoon indeed. Read it. LIVE it. Love it. Happy Reading Folks!