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)

My book of the year!

I'm curious to see if someone else can come up with a more original, more engaging premise for a book in 2013. Praised by Gillian ("Gone Girl") Flynn as the book she herself wished she had written. Can't wait to listen to it again.

Beautiful story, beautifully written and narrated

Don't miss this gem. Kate Atkinson's use of the language is marvelous. The narration is perfection. It isn't a mystery novel, so you know what's coming, so what... it arrives beautifully.

Life after Life

Outstanding literature. Fascinating and unique story line. I cried and laughed in equal proportion. Recommend for anyone who lived through or anyone interested early 20th century life.
This s book touched my soul.

Loved it

A unique story with rich, interesting characters beautifully told.
Kate Atkinson is a gifted author. Can’t wait to read more.

Great original book

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it had originality it’s different from what I normally listen to.

Deja vu all over again

Any additional comments?

If time is a river Ursula can swim to the bank and reenter at different points. The result is a different, though not necessarily better outcome in Atkinson’s book. When things aren’t going well, usually resulting in death, she can go back to the beginning or even some crucial crossroads and have another go at it. There is a subconscious learning experience that seems to gradually produce a vestigial memory along with more satisfactory results. There is a bit of Groundhog Day (the movie) in this but the writing is first rate which makes the different iterations easy and interesting to follow. As the do overs mount up Ursula has a déjà vu inkling that she’s been there (here) and done that before. The psychiatrist fond of Eastern religions that she sees in some of her lives mentions reincarnation. That’s not quite what she is experiencing but there is the aspect of getting it right before moving on to some other plane of existence or nonexistence. A good story of a large family in pre-WWI England through post WWII provides the backdrop for the timeless pursuit of better outcomes. The notion of reliving life is not so farfetched since most of us do it regularly in our daydreams. Atkinson supplies substance to such daydreams through Ursula and does a fine job of it.

L Life After Life was a deeply satisfying book

I learned about this book on NPR from their story about the sequel which just came out. It was not a five-star book for me at first; my thought process went something like,"I thought she died!"

"I thought HE died! Why is this author making me get all sad about characters that don't really die?"

But then maybe I'm not listening to these audiobooks as carefully as I always think I am...

No, NO! Some characters die over and over. This is just an unreliable narrator, but it's okay because the situations and characters are so interesting that I want them to live and go on to do great things, like dig people out during the blitz, prevent a rape, or plan how to learn German, befriend Eva Brown, and kill Hitler

Every time I pay attention to World War II, I learn new aspects of the those horrifying years. Once I got past my confusion, this book was pretty consistently fascinating and the best I've heard/read in a while.

Compelling!!

Very interesting book. Incredible turn(s) of events and the story allows the reader to really get to know the characters--especially Ursula--and root for her as she becomes stronger, wiser with each "pass."

Absolutely superb

This story is so compelling, so beautifully read and so important in concept of time that it is certainly one of the all time best. Comparing it only to Stephen King's 11/22/63 and Time and Again by Jack Finney. One of most enjoyable novels in the whole Audible library!

Dramatic and artistic, a new twist in Time

A new subgenre: Literary Time Punk!
This book was well written and very intriguing. It was a character driven book while the unique premise of the book made it also event driven, giving the author the ability to explore England in the Great War through WWII, with a few side explorations. Also chalk full of great quotes. How did a book accomplish all that? Read it and see.