Begin again

Week 20: Life After Life – Kate Atkinson
Recommended by: Rhianna Jones

Imagine if life was like Wayne's World. This is pretty awesome on a number of levels – party on – but one of the joys is that instead of the bad ending, you could choose to have the mega happy ending, or indeed the Scooby Doo ending. Now imagine if this was done repeatedly, over and over, with multiple options, splitting down different paths like the many-worlds theory, with infinite possibilities. This, in a nutshell, is the premise for Life After Life.

It follows Ursula and her family from the moment of her birth, ultimately through to old age, though it is predominantly bracketed by the two world wars. The reader lives and relives her story as it splits and spreads as if it were a hydra: when one head is hacked off, another spawns in its place. It's an interesting concept and obviously there's a lot of ambiguity present as it's almost impossible to tell what the 'real' version of events is, if such a thing can even be said to exist. From a writer's perspective, it's the chance to explore a lot of different ideas with the same characters and without having to stick to a fixed narrative. It's obviously more fleshed out than a character sketch, more a series of the same subject but painted in different lights, from different angles, with different materials. To follow through on the artistic metaphor what it perhaps lacks though is a truly finished masterpiece as an end product.

It's not a short book and I found it took a long time to get going. I can't decide if the slow, repetitive pace of the opening was necessary to get the most out of the meatier sections at its heart, or if it simply needed to be jump started. It laid down the concept so you got used to different potential scenarios quickly, but it did little to pull me in or develop characters and I could imagine some people giving up on it before it really kicks into gear. Likewise, I found the ending disappointing in its lack of closure – with infinite possibilities available, choosing when to stop felt somewhat arbitrary.

However, the core sections that were the mainstay of the book were very good, with interesting characters who were built up slowly from the various snapshots showcasing facets of their personality. Ultimately the story was always going to live or die by the connection with the characters, as if you don't care what happens to them in one story, you certainly weren't going to in an alternative version of events. Fortunately Ursula, Pamela, Teddy, Sylvie, Hugh, Izzie and co had enough (quintessentially English) family drama and compelling narratives to pull off what is undoubtedly an ambitious concept.

And Englishness is at the heart of the book, with the time period also inevitably comparing and contrasting it with Germany. The focus on the wars is perhaps unsurprising as if history is full of 'what ifs', then, as Ursula and Nigel discuss, 'What if Hitler had been killed before he became Chancellor?' is probably going to be netting you a top score on Family Fortunes. Outside of life split between Fox Corner and London, we also get to witness one version of Ursula's life where she moves to Germany and marries, and another where she volunteers throughout the Blitz. These sections were the heart of the book and I found myself wanting more, only to be slightly disappointed to be taken on a different journey before I was ready to depart. It's a smart book and with patience a rewarding one that I enjoyed, but I can't help but wonder if Kate Atkinson were to write it again, would she abandon the concept in favour of the story, and would it be a better book for it?