What I’m Reading: Bingeing Kate Atkinson…
In commencing this post, it was in my mind that I’d read a couple of other Kate Atkinson novels, Life After Life and Started Early, Took My Dog “really very recently”, only to realise — gulp! — that Life After Life was 2015, while Started Early, Took My Dog was a 2012 read: oh, my!
All of which proves that it was high time I read some more Kate Atkinson, since as will be clear from my earlier posts, she’s a writer I enjoy reading.
The oddity in the reading selection I’m discussing today is that Case Histories and Big Sky comprise the first and fifth (most recently published) novels in the Jackson Brodie series (which are crime/detective tales), i.e. they’re at opposing ends of the series…
That’s because I began reading the Jackson Brodie books in the middle with When Will There Be Good News, before following on with Started Early, Took My Dog (as above.) I enjoyed them, but having now read Case Histories at last, I believe I missed a lot of character context that would have made me appreciate the mid-series’ books even more. At the end of Case Histories, I certainly felt I ‘grokked’ the character of Jackson a lot more, and of course he’s the key to the series, although each book has its own diverse range of fascinating characters.
In fact, I believe “character” is the key to all Kate Atkinson’s writing, both in terms of her keen eye for the light and shadow, rough and smooth of individuals, as well as their interactions with the warp and weft of society. This is just as true of her detective novels as it is of any of her contemporary realism or recent-historical (World War 2) books.
So the ‘story’ is always about Jackson’s inner (and outer) life, the interconnecting lives of all those affected by the central crime (or not infrequently, series of interconnecting crimes), and the society they — and we — live in.
At any rate, I really enjoyed Case Histories and then galloped through Big Sky, as well, which was equally good. For those of you who are Jackson Brodie series’ fans and loved Reggie in When Will There Be Good News, she’s back in Big Sky…In terms of new characters, look out for Harry, Vince and Crystal.
Transcription, the third novel in my mini-binge of Kate Atkinson reading, is from the same recent-historical (World War 2) stable as Life After Life and its companion, A God In Ruins, only without the time-shift/overlapping lives elements. Transcription is straight-out historical fiction, centered on the WW2 counterintelligence operation to effectively “corral” UK fascists, i.e. the traitors and potential quislings thought they were gathering intelligence for the SS but were delivering it to MI5 operatives.
Transcription follows a series of fictional characters involved with the sting operation: during the early stages of the war, in 1950 as the Cold War really starts to bite, and in 1980-1, (very loosely) paralleling the 1979 exposure of Anthony Blunt as the fifth man of the Cambridge Five.
Once again, Kate Atkinson’s novel is a tour de force of characterization, juxtaposed with the historical and political events of the era. I also really liked that although there is a twist, quite a profound one in terms of the story, I really didn’t twig to it until close to the very end. That’s because, in addition to characterization, Ms Atkinson is also a master of misdirection, a mastery I thoroughly heart — particularly in a story of this kind.
So there you are, not one but three Kate Atkinson novels, and all well worth your time (imho.) 🙂
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Disclosure: I read the most recent paperback edition, 414 pp, of Case Histories, borrowed from my sister (who’s also a very keen reader.) Big Sky and Transcription were both hardback editions, 357 pp and 337 pp respectively, both borrowed from Christchurch City Libraries.