A God in Ruins

by Kate Atkinson

Overview

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."

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316176507
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	01/12/2016
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	293,797
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Kate Atkinson's first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, was named England's Whitbread Book of the Year in 1996. Since then, she has written eleven more ground-breaking, bestselling books. She lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Editorial Reviews

"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

"Only as the book unfolds is each character more fully revealed. Ms. Atkinson's artistry in making this happen is marvelously delicate and varied."—Janet Maslin, New York Times

"If you loved Atkinson's 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

"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."—Good Housekeeping

"Dazzling."—People

"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."—Tom Perotta, New York Times Book Review

"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."—Amy Gentry, The Chicago Tribune

"Atkinson writes the way LeBron dunks or Stephen Hawking theorizes; she can't help but be brilliant."
—Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly

"Transcendent."—Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times

"A staggeringly gorgeous book, offering through the story of one small, good, imperfect life, the chance to grieve and cherish so many more."—Ellis Avery, Boston Globe

"Ms. Atkinson rises beautifully to the challenge of dramatizing the raids, capturing the virtually suicidal nature of these operations in muscular, unsentimental prose."—Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal

"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."—Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post

"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."—Tasha Robinson, NPR.org

"...more subtly postmodern, shifting between past, present, and future in ways both subversive and perfectly organic."—Boris Kachka, New York Magazine

"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."—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

"A brilliant follow-up."—Katy Waldman, Slate

"A novel for people who love novels."—Tom Beer, Newsday

"Ms. Atkinson's thrumming imagination runs on premium prose, a perfect vehicle for conveying characters to new futures."—Susan Balée, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"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."
—Maureen Corrigan, NPR's "Fresh Air"

"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."—The New Yorker

"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."
—Paula Hawkins, Author of The Girl on the Train

From the Publisher

…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

Atkinson writes the way LeBron dunks or Stephen Hawking theorizes; she can’t help but be brilliant.”

Entertainment Weekly

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

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.”

Good Housekeeping

[A] dazzling novel.”

People

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.”

BookPage

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

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.”

AudioFile

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.

The New Yorker

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

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.

Time Lev Grossman

A brilliant follow-up.

Slate Katy Waldman

...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.

Newsday Tom Beer

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.

Boston Globe Ellis Avery

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.

NPR.org Tasha Robinson

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

05/15/2015
"If he did survive then in the great afterward he would always try to be kind, to live a good quiet life." So muses Teddy, Ursula's brother in the sensational, time-spinning Life After Life, now given his own voice in a novel that unfolds seamlessly yet doesn't hit the operatic high notes of its predecessor. Teddy, likable yet tentative, a poet manqué working grudgingly in a bank, finds the start of World War II something of a relief. In well-wrought passages, Atkinson admirably shows the momentousness of Teddy's wartime work as a pilot without glamorizing it. Postwar, Teddy settles into the quiet life he imagined, marrying childhood sweetheart Nancy, ending up writing for a local paper, and (sadly) having just one child, Viola. Contentious and irritable (indeed, irritating), the grown Viola barely tolerates her own children or her poor old dad. Why she might be so awful emerges late and a little unsatisfactorily as we finally learn what happens to the rather aloof Nancy, whose loss to the family is hinted at throughout. Teddy, though, remains decent to the end of his long life. Or is it? The final chapter leaves one wondering. VERDICT Beautifully written but emotionally withheld; there's more to disappointed lives then just disappointment. [See Prepub Alert, 11/3/14.]—Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

Library Journal

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

MAY 2015 - AudioFile