The best answer I could come up with – for can you really find a rational reason why you enjoy a novel, other than ‘I couldn’t let go of it while reading it?’ – was that Kate Atkinson makes her reader relate, in some way, to every single one of her characters. Twice I loved it, and I couldn’t help but wonder: how can she make us feel so close to the characters, when the plot is so obviously far-fetched? How did she master such a page-turner without making you feel that each new event is one event too much? However, Kate Atkinson masters her art so finely that When Will There Be Good News? is not sad, not even overly dramatic. It unfolds with more dead people, accidents, break ups, abduction, beaten up wives … So much so that telling your friends the storyline, without having them read the book, might be a bad idea: it almost sounds like a Barbara Cartland novel, where each page brings on a new ordeal and each character is linked to the others in some way – until the puzzle all falls into place. Only 6 year old Joanna runs away from the slaughter, scarred for life. When will there be good news indeed? From the first chapter, Atkinson’s novel is riddled with the worst news you could ever get: a stranger comes out of the wheat in a sun scorched field, to stab a mother, her children and the family dog. When Will There Be Good News? by Kate AtkinsonĪn orphaned teenage girl.
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