Life After Life (novel)

Plot

The novel has an unusual structure, repeatedly looping back in time to describe alternative possible lives for its central character, Ursula Todd, who is born on 11 February 1910 to an upper middle class family near Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire. In the first version, she is strangled by her umbilical cord and stillborn. Later iterations of her life take her into World War Two, where she works in London for the War Office and repeatedly witnesses the results of the Blitz including a direct hit on a bomb shelter in Argyll Road in November 1940. Todd eventually comes to realize, through a particularly strong sense of deja vu, that she has lived before, and decides to try to prevent the war by killing Adolf Hitler in late 1930.

Critical reaction

The Guardian gave the book a positive review, finding it conveyed both the changing social circumstances of 20th century Britain, and the particular details of the character's day-to-day life, in addition to the pleasures offered by the narrative format. The Daily Telegraph likewise praised it, calling it Atkinson's best book to date. The Independent found the central character to be sympathetic, and argued that the book's central message was that World War II was preventable and should not have been allowed to happen.

Awards and honours

It won the 2013 Costa Book Awards (Novel). It was shortlisted for the 2013 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, Waterstones Book of the Year (2013), and the Walter Scott Prize (2014). It was selected as one of the 10 Best Books of 2013 by the editors of the New York Times Book Review, an ALA Notable Books for Adults (2014), The Morning News Tournament of Books (Zombie Selection and Finalist 2014), Goodreads Choice Awards (Historical Fiction 2013), Andrew Carnegie Medal longlist (2014), The South Bank Show Annual Award for Literature (2014).