…you read a novel like Kate Atkinson's A God in Ruins, a sprawling, unapologetically ambitious saga that tells the story of postwar Britain through the microcosm of a single family, and you remember what a big, old-school novel can do. Atkinson's book covers almost a century, tracks four generations, and is almost inexhaustibly rich in scenes and characters and incidents. It deploys the whole realist bag of tricks, and none of it feels fake or embarrassing. In fact, it's a masterly and frequently exhilarating performance by a novelist who seems utterly undaunted by the imposing challenges she's set for herself…Atkinson's a sly and witty observer, with a gift for finding the perfect detail…
The New York Times Book Review - Tom Perrotta
Structure, and its way of coalescing from the seemingly casual into the deliberate, has been a main attraction in other Atkinson books. In this one, the main attraction is Teddy, and the way his glorious, hard-won decency withstands so many tests of time. Everything about his boyhood innocence is reshaped by his wartime ordeals, which are rendered with terrifying authenticity thanks to the author's research into real bombers' recollections…Ms. Atkinson has one huge trick up her sleeve, but she saves it for the book's final moments to make it that much more devastating. She gets you to that final moment on faith and through writerly seduction. Just know that every salient detail in A God in Ruins, from the silver hare adorning Teddy's pram to the queen's Diamond Jubilee, is here for a fateful reason.
The New York Times - Janet Maslin
★ 02/09/2015
05/15/2015
★ 2015-02-16
"A novel so sublime I would nominate it to represent all books in the Art Olympics. The afterword deserves a literary prize all to itself. It is, as claimed on the sumptuous proof, even better than Life After Life ."—The Bookseller Janet Maslin , New York Times Life After Life, you're in luck. If you're one of the, say, five people who didn't read it: You're still in luck—Atkinson is a master at the top of her game. A quiet, moving portrait of a guy navigating life's small pleasures and painful failures."—Marie Claire Good Housekeeping People Tom Perotta , New York Times Book Review A God in Ruins should change that."—Amy Gentry , The Chicago Tribune Leah Greenblatt , Entertainment Weekly Moira Macdonald , The Seattle Times Ellis Avery , Boston Globe Sam Sacks , The Wall Street Journal Red Badge of Courage to Kevin Powers's The Yellow Birds and Ben Fountain's Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk ."—Maureen Corrigan , The Washington Post A God in Ruins expresses the ways lives can be seen close up, in seemingly unconnected individual moments, or from a distance, as a series of through-lines."—Tasha Robinson , NPR.org Boris Kachka , New York Magazine Life After Life ...Having spun one great novel out of second, third and 50th chances, she's spun another out of the fact that in reality, we get only one."—Lev Grossman , Time A God in Ruins bills itself as a companion piece to Life After Life , rather than a sequel. In trying this, Atkinson joins some of the most innovative and impressive authors on both sides of the pond, including Hilary Mantel, Marilynne Robinson, and Jane Smiley, who are busy constructing high-brow trilogies and ambitious spinoffs of their own. Atkinson more than lives up to the challenge and proves herself worthy of her company."—Ester Bloom , BarnesandNoble.com Katy Waldman , Slate Tom Beer , Newsday Susan Balée , The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Maureen Corrigan , NPR's "Fresh Air" Life After Life ] tracks Ursula's brother, Teddy, a favorite son who flies an RAF bomber during the Second World War and remains kind, thoughtful, and patient through a life of quiet sadness...Teddy, unlike his sister, lives only one life, but Atkinson's deft handling of time, as she jumps from boyhood to old age and back, is impressive."—The New Yorker Life After Life , in his attempt to live a 'good, quiet life' in the 20th century. Characteristically perceptive and poignant, like its predecessor it also gives a vivid and often thrilling account of life during the second world war—seen this time from the air rather than the streets of London."Paula Hawkins , Author of The Girl on the Train
Atkinson writes the way LeBron dunks or Stephen Hawking theorizes; she can’t help but be brilliant.”
Only as the book unfolds is each character more fully revealed. Ms. Atkinson’s artistry in making this happen is marvelously delicate and varied.”
Gorgeous, thought provoking…Once again, Atkinson explores the concept of paths not taken versus those that are. Her hero’s journey has its trials…but also joys and deep love. Quiet, humble Teddy is easy to root for. At the end of this tender story (a weeper, by the way), you won’t want to let him go.”
[A] dazzling novel.”
Disillusioned by war and haunted by the fact that he survived when so many did not, Teddy tries to reconnect with his poetic nature. Atkinson is an unparalleled storyteller who conveys the repercussions of Teddy’s life choices in dazzling prose.”
Atkinson is a master at the top of her game. A quiet, moving portrait of a guy navigating life’s small pleasures and painful failures.”
Fortunately for the listener, narrator Alex Jennings is a master. From the opening lines, his impeccable British accent establishes the scene and captures the persona of the main character, Teddy, and the rest of the diverse cast. Jennings’s clear diction and pace advance the action through richly detailed accounts of Teddy’s adventures as a WWII bomber pilot as well as quieter dramas of his daily life and family relationships. Although this work is a companion to Atkinson’s Life after Life , the story is thoroughly enjoyable on its own. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
This follow up [to Life After Life ] tracks Ursula's brother, Teddy, a favorite son who flies an RAF bomber during the Second World War and remains kind, thoughtful, and patient through a life of quiet sadness...Teddy, unlike his sister, lives only one life, but Atkinson's deft handling of time, as she jumps from boyhood to old age and back, is impressive.
A novel so sublime I would nominate it to represent all books in the Art Olympics. The afterword deserves a literary prize all to itself. It is, as claimed on the sumptuous proof, even better than Life After Life .
Only as the book unfolds is each character more fully revealed. Ms. Atkinson's artistry in making this happen is marvelously delicate and varied.
New York Times Janet Maslin
Ms. Atkinson rises beautifully to the challenge of dramatizing the raids, capturing the virtually suicidal nature of these operations in muscular, unsentimental prose.
The Wall Street Journal Sam Sacks
As finely crafted as Life After Life ...Having spun one great novel out of second, third and 50th chances, she's spun another out of the fact that in reality, we get only one.
A brilliant follow-up.
...more subtly postmodern, shifting between past, present, and future in ways both subversive and perfectly organic.
New York Magazine Boris Kachka
Atkinson's genre-bending novels have garnered critical praise, but nothing on the order of a Rushdie, or even an Ian McEwan. A God in Ruins should change that.
The Chicago Tribune Amy Gentry
A novel for people who love novels.
A novel that takes its place in the line of powerful works about young men and war, stretching from Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage to Kevin Powers's The Yellow Birds and Ben Fountain's Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk .
The Washington Post Maureen Corrigan
Atkinson writes the way LeBron dunks or Stephen Hawking theorizes; she can't help but be brilliant.
Entertainment Weekly Leah Greenblatt
Transcendent.
The Seattle Times Moira Macdonald
Atkinson’s masterful followup to her epic Life After Life is honestly breathtaking. It’s difficult to put into words how amazingly she creates character after character—even someone we meet just once!—and fills them with such life…Prepare to feel bereft once it’s over, as we wait for Atkinson to write another masterpiece.”
Top Pick!) RT Book Reviews (4½ stars
A staggeringly gorgeous book, offering through the story of one small, good, imperfect life, the chance to grieve and cherish so many more.
A sprawling, unapologetically ambitious saga that tells the story of postwar Britain through the microcosm of a single family, and you remember what a big, old-school novel can do.
New York Times Book Review Tom Perotta
Ms. Atkinson's thrumming imagination runs on premium prose, a perfect vehicle for conveying characters to new futures.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Susan Balée
A God in Ruins bills itself as a companion piece to Life After Life , rather than a sequel. In trying this, Atkinson joins some of the most innovative and impressive authors on both sides of the pond, including Hilary Mantel, Marilynne Robinson, and Jane Smiley, who are busy constructing high-brow trilogies and ambitious spinoffs of their own. Atkinson more than lives up to the challenge and proves herself worthy of her company.
BarnesandNoble.com Ester Bloom
Magnificent...Atkinson fluidly executes these chronological loop-de-loops, leaving a reader to marvel at that most banal of epiphanies—how fast life goes by.
NPR's "Fresh Air" Maureen Corrigan
A sprawling, epic novel...A God in Ruins expresses the ways lives can be seen close up, in seemingly unconnected individual moments, or from a distance, as a series of through-lines.
Nothing short of a masterpiece. Elegantly structured and beautifully told, it recounts the story of Teddy Todd, the brother of the protagonist of Atkinson's 2013 novel, Life After Life , in his attempt to live a 'good, quiet life' in the 20th century. Characteristically perceptive and poignant, like its predecessor it also gives a vivid and often thrilling account of life during the second world war—seen this time from the air rather than the streets of London.
Author of The Girl on the Train Paula Hawkins
The much-anticipated continuation of the Todd family saga features the author’s hallmark scope of action and complexity of character. Fortunately for the listener, narrator Alex Jennings is a master. From the opening lines, his impeccable British accent establishes the scene and captures the persona of the main character, Teddy, and the rest of the diverse cast. Jennings's clear diction and pace advance the action through richly detailed accounts of Teddy's adventures as a WWII bomber pilot as well as quieter dramas of his daily life and family relationships. Although this work is a companion to Atkinson's LIFE AFTER LIFE, the story is thoroughly enjoyable on its own. M.O.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2016 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
