How it all began, by Penelope Lively

A novel based on the “Butterfly Effect,” the idea that the mere flapping of a butterfly’s wings can ultimately lead to a tornado hundreds of miles away.  Charlotte Rainsfield, an older but still vital woman, is mugged on a London street, breaking her hip in the encounter.  The emergency causes her daughter, Rose, to miss an event with her employer; Lord Henry Peters, an elderly retired historian, so his niece, Marian, must accompany him to the speech he is to give in Manchester.  There she meets a man who could use her skills as an interior designer – and just in the nick of time as her business is falling victim to the economic turn down.  Oh, and she leaves a message on her married lover’s cell phone about her change in plans, with devastating results.  Charlotte, a former teacher and now a literacy tutor, must move in with Rose and her son-in-law while she heals.   Seeking to keep busy, she begins tutoring 40-year-old Polish immigrant, Anton, in their home, which introduces him into the mix of characters.  By the end of the novel, all of these lives will have been changed as a result of a random robbery on a London street.  The characters are engaging and sharply drawn, and Lively is such a good writer and observer that the novel less formulaic than this reductive review makes it sound.  229 pp.