Review of Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

“What if we had a chance to do it again and again, until we finally did get it right? Wouldn't that be wonderful?” 
- Edward Beresford Todd

The Breakdown: Baby Girl is born. Baby Girl dies. Rewind. Baby Girl is born. Baby Girl lives. She grows. She dies. Rewind.

The Basics: Life After Life is about Ursula, a curious girl born into the Todd family in 1910 England. After a few "rewinds" of her life back to the first breath she does/doesn't take, Ursula realizes that she's different.  On the surface, this novel by Kate Atkinson appears to be a textual (and more serious) version of Groundhog Day or Sliding Doors. Just to jog your memory of the two 1990s movies just mentioned, Bill Murray's character in Groundhog Day becomes fully aware that he is doing the same day repeatedly (sometimes driving him mad, sometimes causing him to seek personal growth) whereas in Sliding Doors we are given the opportunity to see how one choice made by Gwyneth Paltrow's character is played out based on whether she gets on a train or misses the train. Nevertheless, Atkinson's storyline is much deeper and complex than both of those films for a couple of different reasons. One, Ursula merely has feelings that she has "done this before" and two, Ursula learns to identify her déjà vu instincts which communicate to her to act differently, bolder, or more sensitively this time. During certain versions of her life, Ursula, aware of her repeat existence, manages to make life altering decisions or react to life altering events.

The Baffling: On more than one occasion and at various times in Ursula's existence(s), I found myself hoping that Ursula would die so that her life could have chance at betterment next time. These thoughts bothered me once I realized I had them and I couldn't help but wonder if Atkinson was playing with her readers, causing them to look within themselves concerning the value of every single life. I'm eager to see if any other readers felt this way or if I'm the lone morbid reader.

The Bad: I would like to preface this section by saying that just because one person feels like there are holes in a storyline or that there are negatives, that does not mean that the book should be tossed from reading consideration. The story raised a lot of questions within me and after reading it (possibly a spoiler) I questioned, "When does it stop?" That being said, Kate Atkinson, let's do tea. I would love to ask you a few questions about the last fifty or so pages. I have questions that need answering!

Now, if my need to have tea and a chat with the author doesn't scare you off, keep reading.

The Best: Overall, I felt like this novel maintained a strong metaphor for the one life we are given. Despite the fact that Ursula lives a circular existence (although she refers to it as palimpsest), since we are not actually given the opportunity to go back and "fix" things, I believe that this story could persuade a person to be more thoughtful in the decisions that he or she makes.

The Believer: On a spiritual note, Ursula's life was exhausting. It made me grateful that I have only one life to live and that as a Christian, I have Christ Jesus, the surety for all of the many mistakes I make and have made and opportunities I miss and have missed. There's a hymn I love that says, "Love cannot from its post withdraw; nor death, nor hell, nor sin, nor law, can turn the Surety's heart away; He'll love His own to endless day." Ursula's therapist in one part of the novel quotes from 1 Corinthians 13 and I paraphrase: if I have the gift of prophecy, and faith to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. Ursula somewhat had the gift of prophecy, she maintained faith in what she felt she needed to do, moving metaphorical mountains in her life, and yet was so tightly wound into her perplexing life that true love and her dependence on the Giver of life and love, remained out of her grasp for much of the novel.

Overall, if you can handle joy, sadness, bittersweetness, joy, sadness, and bittersweetness, this might just be the next book for you to read.


Side B - Be on the Lookout: If you do choose to read this novel, pay attention to the motif of foxes. They recur throughout the novel and are subtle yet significant.