Life after Life by Kate Atkinson

I have a friend who is always talking about the cosmic.  She's truly interested in the big questions...why are we here, have we been here before, what are we supposed to do while we are here?  Her perspective is always thought provoking, often enlightening, and always makes me stop and think about the big picture. Kate Atkinson's new book Life After Life is like that too.

Life After Life is a look at what happens when young Ursula Todd figures out that she has been reincarnated over and over during the course of her life.  She realizes that she can change her life events and those around her as she makes choices about her actions and life decisions each time she's reincarnated.  Set in England, in the years spanning Pre-World War II through the 1960's, the story takes Ursula from birth through old age and plays life events over and over as she changes her actions, therefore changing the outcomes. Interesting premise.  

I love Kate Atkinson.  I've written about her before.  She is a great storyteller, wry and fun to read. Her characters come to life and resonate with readers.  She describes settings and atmosphere so well that you really feel as though you are there.  She's one of the few writers that I will buy in hardback and I have never been disappointed with the results.   

This book was a bit of a challenge though.  I imagine Ms. Atkinson plotting her story on a big bulletin board memory map to figure out what happens and why.  The board would be filled with post it notes and index cards connected with string - like something out of a movie about obsessed murderers.  I imagine her process this way because that's the only way I can think that she could keep track of all the characters and plot lines in the book.  As I was reading it, I felt as if I had to do the same in order decipher how the story fit together.  About midway through, I had gotten so turned around that I almost went back and started over, but then decided to just go with it and let it play out.  While the timeline of events and how her reincarnation worked doesn't totally become clear, I did get the sense of how Ursula's life could take many different turns depending on the choices she made at critical junctures.  It made me think back about how my life would be different if I had made different choices.  It got really interesting when Ursula became aware of her past lives and began to make those choices consciously in order to avoid danger for her and her family.  What would you change if you knew in hindsight how your life would change given your actions?  What would you avoid?  How would you position yourself to influence the future?  

Its because of these thought provoking questions that I think this book will be popular with book groups. Atkinson is posing a pretty cosmic question with this book and is challenging her readers to think, telling a good story all the while.  Its also why my friend should read it.  She'd enjoy the mental gymnastics it takes to think about such a thing.  And while its a little murky on the why, when and how, I enjoyed it too.  

If you want to think more about this and other cosmic subjects...meaning of life, why are we here sort of stuff, then check out my friend's blog.  meaningofstrife.wordpress.com