Each Wednesday I feature a guest post by a book blogger detailing which books they think are the “best” and “worst” by the author of their choice. Visit the series page for more information about the guest bloggers, the featured authors, and the sign-up form.
Please welcome today’s guest blogger: Beth from Too Fond who will be discussing the best and worst of Kate Atkinson.
I started reading Kate Atkinson soon after her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award, in the late 1990s. I’ve since gone on to read almost everything she has published.
I have a particular fondness for British writers, and Atkinson sets many of her stories in her own home county of Yorkshire, as well as in other British locations. Her writing is smart but readable and her stories populated with quirky characters that are at the same time very relatable. Her second novel, Human Croquet, is close to being my favorite book of hers. It’s a fascinating story that blends imagination and reality until even the reader isn’t sure what’s real and what isn’t.
Atkinson made an interesting shift in style when she created her Jackson Brodie series of novels, which are a mix of the crime and literary fiction genres. The first Jackson Brodie novel, Case Histories, is probably her best work. I fell in love with the character of Jackson, a police officer turned private eye who just can’t seem to catch a break. Jackson is an alpha male underdog who spends a lot of time either getting beat up or listening to sad country music in his car. The plot of the book is immediately engaging, and Atkinson takes the reader through a series of twists and turns that are impossible to predict before the mystery is solved. She creates links between characters in ways that you would never expect. I’ve heard that the BBC has created a television show based on the series, but I haven’t yet had a chance to see it.
The worst Kate Atkinson wasn’t too hard for me to pick. I bought Emotionally Weird when it first came out in hardback, something I rarely do but felt was warranted because it was a new Atkinson! However, I was pretty disappointed by it. The story never really captured my attention, and to be honest I’ve forgotten a lot of what the plot was about. I might give it another try someday, though.
I just found out recently that Atkinson has a new book coming out next April, entitled Life After Life. I was a bit sorry to hear that it’s not a Jackson Brodie novel, as I was hoping for some resolution to his story, but it will instead be a standalone novel about a woman who has a seemingly infinite number of lives. Sounds like another interesting read from one of my favorite writers—I can’t wait!
The complete works of Kate Atkinson to date:
Behind the Scenes at the Museum
Human Croquet
Emotionally Weird
Not the End of the World
Abandonment (a play)
Case Histories (Jackson Brodie #1)
One Good Turn (Jackson Brodie #2)
When Will There Be Good News (Jackson Brodie #3)
Started Early, Took My Dog (Jackson Brodie #4)
Life After Life (coming April 2013)
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