Life after life, by Kate Atkinson

Long before her popular Jackson Brodie series, I became an immediate fan of Kate Atkinson after reading her award-winning first novel, Life behind the scenes at the museum.  Although her books that are in series resemble one another, each series or “stand-alone” title reveals a different side of her writing, which is always first-rate and often humorous, despite the often sad or, in the case of her new book, tragic circumstances.  The main character, Ursula, is born, and sometimes dies, in 1910. Once she succeeds in staying alive into childhood, she may die again and start over.  Each “rebirth” leads to a different life, based on chance.  Does she try to kill Hitler before he really comes to power, or was she married to a German who supported him and stuck in Germany during the run-up to World War II? Or was she in London during the war?  Much of the book is set in London and nearby during the Blitz.  The constant bombardment and the claustrophobic experience of being in underground shelters, or being actually underground after a direct hit, has seldom been depicted more memorably.  What does it all mean?  I’m not sure; neither is Ursula as she lives life after life.  Unique.  I couldn’t put it down.  544 pp.