Kate Atkinson's A God in Ruins

 

Kate Atkinson's previous novel, Life After Life, published in 2013, told the story (or rather stories) of Ursula Todd, who lives her life several times over with very different outcomes. Her most recent book, 'A God in Ruins,' is a "companion novel" rather than a sequel that focuses on Ursula's younger brother Teddy.

It spans Teddy's life across the twentieth century and four generations of the Todd family, focusing on Teddy's childhood in Fox Corner, his wartime experiences as a pilot flying a Halifax bomber, and his later post-war years with his family. He marries his childhood sweetheart Nancy but has a strained relationship with their daughter Viola, who shows little appreciation for the horrors Teddy witnessed while serving in Bomber Command.

Although the structure of 'Life After Life' appeared gimmicky at first, its real strengths were Atkinson's excellent storytelling and a cast of engaging characters, both of which are also present in 'A God in Ruins.' Rather than using the same structural device, Atkinson only follows one version of Teddy's life this time, rather than several.

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Even though the story jumps back and forth in time between various episodes in Teddy's life, from childhood to old age, Atkinson keeps some surprises until the very end and is just as inventive when handling one narrative as she is when handling several. In her observational prose, Atkinson masterfully balances understated dark humor and poignancy. Teddy's transformative wartime experiences shape the rest of his life, and the chapters detailing the RAF bombing raids during WWII form the heart of the novel and have been brilliantly researched.

There is lighter relief elsewhere in the form of sly digs at Viola's writing career and Teddy's frustration with how his family's younger generations treat him in his old age. Because 'A God in Ruins' is a companion novel to 'Life After Life,' rather than a sequel, it doesn't matter which order you read them in, and some readers who were put off by the looping structure of Atkinson's previous novel may prefer 'A God in Ruins.'

I'm delighted that Atkinson has returned to the Todds and produced yet another engrossing and moving account of their lives. I'd be surprised if 'A God in Ruins,' which deservedly won the Costa Novel Award earlier this year, didn't make the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction longlist, which will be announced tomorrow.









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