Life After Life

A Novel

By: Kate Atkinson

Narrated by: Fenella Woolgar

Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2011 Kate Atkinson (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"A densely layered, century-sprawling work that is a formidable bid for the brass ring of the U.K.'s prestigious Man Booker Prize. Life After Life is a drama of failures and providential rebirths...High-concept premise...A deft and convincing portrayal of an English family's evolution across two world wars...Marvelous...Not only does she bring characters to life with enviable ease, she has an almost offhand knack for vivid scene-setting ...Her storytelling prowess is on fullest display in a gorgeous and nerve-racking novella-length chapter set during the Blitz...It's spellbindingly done." (Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal)

"Life After Life is a masterpiece about how even the smallest choices can sometimes change the course of history. It's wise, bittersweet, funny, and unlike anything else you've ever read. Kate Atkinson is one of my all-time favorite novelists, and I believe this is her best book yet." (J. Courtney Sullivan, best-selling author of Maine and Commencement)

"Life After Life is dark and funny and suspenseful and sad all at the same time." (Emily Ecton, NPR, Great Reads of 2013)

The Past is Prologue

A strikingly poignant story for a world being turned upside down. Many people may be reflecting today on the choices they've made and how their lives might be different if they'd taken different paths. Ms. Atkinson takes her characters down many paths, with different timelines, and in the offing renders a series of unforgettable stories that somehow become a coherent whole over the course of the book. The reader, Fenella Woolgar, brings a rare intelligence and feeling to her reading. She renders Ms Atkinson's characters with a clarity and deftness that helps the listener to follow the plotting. Any listener willing to surf the plot's complexities will be rewarded with a profound experience. Highly recommended.

Confusing but still good

tough to follow at times but the writing was so good and I enjoyed the style so much I pushed through. it's a good read, sweet, delicate and sincere.

Outstanding!

Wonderful story and excellent narrator. I knew this would be clever and have an unexpected ending and it didn't disappoint.

Great book!

I loved this book, especially the format and characters.... it kept me thinking and hanging on.

Interesting but a bit Meandering

Any additional comments?

I really liked this book, though it brought up interesting ideas and took place in England during WWI and II, which I tend to like. There are bits about Hitler that I think were too much of stretch, but otherwise, I really enjoyed listening. I found myself really rooting for Ursula to have a good life.

Kate Atkinson at her finest

What did you love best about Life After Life?

If you have enjoyed Kate Atkinson's early work (for example, "It's Not the End of the World"), you will love Life After Life. Her art of story-telling, descriptive writing, cleverness, and blend of tragedy and dry humor reach new heights here. She is able to suspend our disbelief time and time again. Each version of Ursula Todd is mesmerizing and essential to the plot. Life After Life is a unique experience.

What did you like best about this story?

I love the subtle details that change in each version and determine the future. Every time that Ursula makes a tiny decision (study modern languages, for example) or encounters a person or event, a small recalculation in the trajectory of her life follows. We all make choices in our lives, but most of us just pursue the course that we have chosen and don't have an opportunity to live multiple courses. Ursula does. This novel causes us to rethink our own lives.

Which scene was your favorite?

"Which scene was your favorite?" is a humorous question for this book. Every time that Ursula is reborn is my favorite. Her birth is slightly different each time.

Any additional comments?

I totally enjoyed listening to Fenella Woolgar. She brought the language to life.

Can't wait to discuss this in my book group.

Reincarnation, revisited.

I loved this book. Read reviews and was unsure, but overall, I enjoyed the idea of a life after life. It always kept me guessing, especially in the last few chapters.

Love the writing and the narrator

Would you listen to Life After Life again? Why?

Yes, the story is so intriguing and clever I would listen again.

What did you like best about this story?

The writing and the characters so beautifully told.

What about Fenella Woolgar’s performance did you like?

I've listened to over 100 books and Fenella Woolgar's British accent, German accents and French accents are the best I've ever heard. I would listen to anything she reads! What a talent!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Her marriage was very disturbing and so were the WWII descriptions of survival.

Any additional comments?

I found the book totally fascinating.

Lovely listen

Well written, easy to listen to and get immersed
in the story. Left me hanging at the end, but kind of the o my way to end it really.

Absolutely perfect

I read and listen to 1-2 books a week and this is the best book I’ve read in at least two years.