I will admit that I have been avoiding this book since it was published, but especially after I read a Sherlock fanfic one time* that was a riff on Life After Life, and which is one of the most emotionally traumatizing fics I’ve ever read, so by association I was pre-traumatized by this book. Also, one time I read the first Jackson Brodie mystery and I thought it was boring, so I thought this would be boring too. Happily, wrong on all fronts!
*If you would like to be emotionally traumatized (but with a happy ending!) here is the link to the fic, which is called A River Without Banks.
So anyway, I picked this up in 2022 against my own inclinations because one of the Read Harder challenges was to have a friend who reads different types of books than you recommend a book, and my friend Lindsay recommended this one, and she knew exactly what she was doing, so I came to this book kicking and screaming (I made her read The Way of Kings in response). Luckily, I really liked it! I need some weirdness in my lit-fic, and the weirdness here was just hte right amount.
Our main character is Ursula Todd, and we follow her from birth (again and again) to death (etc.) until she gets her life right. The premise here is that when she dies, she is born again and does things differently to avoid whatever killed her. I really liked this aspect of the story, and not just because it was on the surface satisfying, but also because the way we were living certain sections of her life over again meant that Atkinson could go wide and deep in a way that more traditionally chronological narratives can’t. The time periods she lives through are also really interesting, as she’s born in February 1910, and lives well into the mid-twentieth century. I also just really liked the writing style! It was clear and focused and oftentimes very clever and amusing, and never felt pretentious.
I’m glad I was forced to read this, but I don’t think I will be reading the sequel because it’s not weird enough, and I still think I wouldn’t very much enjoy Jackson Brodie, so this may be my one and only Kate Atkinson, so at least it was a good one.
[4.5 stars]
Read Harder Challenge 2022: Read a book recommended by a friend with different reading tastes.