A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson, 468 pages.
The sequel to the intensely original and equally brilliant Life after Life reinforces the contention that Atkinson is the best
writer going (and I’m sure someone besides me and some of my colleagues are
contending this; they gotta be, she just is. I'd be willing to reluctantly accept "among the best . . . ", anyway). This second book tells the tale of Ursula’s
younger brother, Teddy. Teddy was a wonderful child, his mother’s favorite, his Aunt Izzie's favorite, his sisters' favorite, and a decent young man. The story jumps back and forth between Teddy’s childhood, his time as
a bomber pilot during the war, his later life with Nancy and daughter Viola, and time with
his grandchildren, Sunny and Bertie. Each part of Teddy's life is beautifully drawn
with heartbreaking detail.
His time as a pilot of a Halifax bomber spent (at times in vain; the girl in the war office tells him that statistically speaking there's almost no chance for any of the crews to live through their allotted missions) trying to keep
his crew alive- caused him to vow that should he make it through the war he would live the remainder of his life as a good and kind person.
He tries to do that, to live a quiet uneventful life, but as with sister,
Ursula, events and episodes in our lives are never as simple as we think. Viola, Teddy’s angry and self-centered
daughter, and his grandchildren are great characters as well, living full lives, deserving books of their own. I'm glad that I read the author's note explaining how this story relates to Ursula's in Life After Life after finishing the book.
Read them both, they are quite the thing for fans of artful and
heartfelt storytelling, or fans of anything, really.
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