This stunning companion to Kate Atkinson’s #1 bestseller Life After Life, “one of the best novels I’ve read this century” (Gillian Flynn), follows Ursula’s brother Teddy as he navigates an unknown future after a perilous war.
“He had been reconciled to death during the war and then suddenly the war was over and there was a next day and a next day. Part of him never adjusted to having a future.” him never adjusted to having a future.”
Kate Atkinson’s dazzling Life After Life explored the possibility of infinite chances and the power of choices, following Ursula Todd as she lived through the turbulent events of the last century over and over again. A God in Ruins tells the dramatic story of the 20th Century through Ursula’s beloved younger brother Teddy — would-be poet, heroic pilot, husband, father, and grandfather — as he navigates the perils and progress of a rapidly changing world.
After all that Teddy endures in battle, his greatest challenge is living in a future he never expected to have. An ingenious and moving exploration of one ordinary man’s path through extraordinary times, A God in Ruins proves once again that Kate Atkinson is one of the finest novelists of our age.
more
Wonderful book. Profound view of WWII RAF pilots and the inhumanity of war. Fascinating history. Beautiful writing and deeply engaging characters.
Reading this book is like dropping pebbles in a pond and watching the ripples bounce off one another, creating new patterns until they fade to nothing.
Atkinson’s deft hand with storytelling is well-established in both crime and literary fiction. In Life After Life, she played with the conventions of narrative, so that each ending was a …
This and Life After Life – wow. x
As always she writes an incredible book.
This is an excellent book which unfolds in layers. The beginning is deceptively understated but each page takes you deeper into the characters and their lives.
I found this book lacked understanding of the main chareacters
A continuation of the story introduced in Life After Life. I loved it.
When I describe this book, I would not read the book I describe. But it is brilliant, well researched (5 generations, from point of view of my parents generation WW11) Just read it!
Kate Atkinson has mastered the art of writing books in which the events are not revealed in chronological order. If you are not familiar with her work be patient – believe me, it’s worth the effort. These novels tell the story of Teddy Todd, a bomber pilot believed to have died in aerial combat over Germany but who, to the delight of his …
I pre-ordered this the first day the button popped up. A long wait and I’m not sure if while waiting my expectations just blew through the roof or it is a disappointing book. I lean toward the former because anything she writes is just a pleasure to read but I found myself drifting off and it took a while to finish. The ending was something that …
Kate Atkinson’s “A God in Ruins,” is not a page-turner. I mean that in the best possible way. It is a masterpiece – a saga of the Todd family and it covers in a loopy, free-floating manner four generations.
It would be an understatement to say that Atkinson is not constrained by chronology. The book opens with a short scene titled “Last Flight” …
Superbly and originally constructed book, ostensibly about WWII fighter, but really about the changing world. Great writing.
LOVED LOVED LOVED this book I cried at the end. Even though I half guessed the ending. A week later I was in an old church and saw a plaque on the wall for a 22 year old WW2 pilot and started crying again. I found Teddy one of the best ever characters in my 50 plus years of reading. Wonderful. Kate Atkinson writes beautifully. I am overcome with …