One of the blessings of vacation is more time to read. On this holiday I have mainly been reading about Norway and the Tour de France. Monday was a much needed “rest day” for both me and the Tour. I began Kate Atkinson’s newest book, Life After Life.
What a treat! One of my Sisters in Crime raved and she is right. I will have to drag myself away to go see Paris knitting stores while shops are still open.
Here are a few samples to whet your appetite:
Maurice turned up on a Saturday morning, this time with only Howie in tow and no sign of Gilbert, who had been sent down for “an indiscretion.” When Pamela said, “What indiscretion?” Sylvie said that it was the definition of an indiscretion that you didn’t speak of it afterward.”
Again, not love, more like the feelings you would have for a favorite dog (and, no, she would never have said such a thing to him. Some people, a lot of people, didn’t understand how attached one could be to a dog).
This passage comes closest to describing the theme of the book:
“If just one small thing had been changed, in the past, I mean. If Hitler had died at birth, or if someone had kidnapped him as a baby and brought him up in–I don’t know, a Quaker household–surely things would be different.”
“Do you think Quakers would kidnap a baby?” Ralph asked mildly.
“Well, if they knew what was going to happen they might.”
— Recommended read.
Leaving my fifth floor garret (romanticizing a shabby hotel) to see Paris. Plenty of novel left to read on flight home. And lots more Kate Atkinson to read in the future. Happy thought.
More about Kate Atkinson at http://www.kateatkinson.co.uk/
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