My husband's comment after reading the first third of this book on a plane was' "That Ursula is really unlucky." Indeed she is. This is the ultimate 'do over' book. Ursula Todd, born in 1910, gets numerous chances to relive her life.
Every time Todd dies, Atkinson brings her back and gives her a chance to
relive the moments that killed her first time around – and so to carry
on living. I have always said that the real money in a time machine is to be made in being able to go back five minutes, not to time travel back to the Middle Ages or forward into whatever dystopian reality that the distant future may hold. Ursula sometimes goes back years rather than minutes (she makes a decision that leaves her in Nazi Germany, and when she gets the chance to reset the clock she has to go back to the time when she could have made a decision to leave).
The writing is fantastic, so even though there were times when I got a little lost in what was actually going on in the story (this is no where near as confusing as Will Self's book 'Umbrella', but it is non-linear enough that if you get a little distracted you could have trouble finding your bearings), I enjoyed the story as it was told, and could eventually link it to the previous narrative. One of the New York Times best books of 2013, it is well worth the read.
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