Life after life is a beautifully wrought,
unique novel that blends the concept of continuous reincarnation into an
outstanding work of historical fiction. The reader experiences the tumultuous period
of two world wars through Ursula, a heroine buffeted through multiple lives, the
course of which vary wildly with each incarnation.
Each reimagining of her life highlights how
we are all victims of circumstance and that destinies can change with just one
altered decision. It also allows Atkinson to examine events and characters from
multiple angles, vividly recreating a world now lost and depicting the raw,
human devastation experienced by civilians on both British and German sides.
Although the book opens with the attempted
assassination of Hitler, it immediately jumps to Ursula’s birth, setting a tone
of displacement that runs throughout the book as her lives take stunted,
weaving paths through a maze of life events.
Ursula herself is a somewhat lonely figure, forever at the mercy of the
twists and turns of her lives, and the collusion of an unknown force disguised
as happenstance. As such, it is hard to get a handle on what she wants, and
what really drives her, as she and the reader are awash with the endless
possibilities of her numerous lives.
The only constant throughout is the love
and dedication of her family; a rich assembly of characters each with their set
of nuances and hidden depths that can be uniquely probed through the varied
destinies they are entwined within. As the story progresses, Ursula’s prophesied
destiny becomes remote and in a sense unnecessary as the heart of the story is
not a heroic assassination, but her love for her family and the arcadia within
which they reside.
A feeling of nostalgia resonates throughout
as it documents the passing of a world now gone, a time that can now only be
looked upon through the lens of history. Kate Atkinson brings that world back
to life, creating an intimacy and immediacy to the war and those caught within
it whilst at the same time allowing the reader’s soul to soar at the prospect
of the fairytale moment that could have prevented it all.
Review
by Kate Vickers
