Okay, so if you've been following this blog for a while you know that I loved the last novel by Kate Atkinson I read, Life After Life, about a woman named Ursula who keeps getting reborn into the same life and living it in different ways. This novel is not a sequel, but more of a companion, and focuses on Ursula's younger brother Teddy.
Teddy is a hero of WW II, a bomber pilot who survives every mission and comes home to marry his childhood sweetheart, Nancy. Atkinson tells Teddy's story going back and forth between the past and the present, and also from various perspectives, like that of his daughter Viola. These are all richly developed, deeply real characters and I just couldn't put the book down (although I admit to skimming a bit through the more detailed bombing raids of the war).
While not as innovative as Life After Life, this is a beautifully written book that does have a surprise or two up its sleeve. I definitely recommend it.
A God in Ruins
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