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.
"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
"[Atkinson] occupies that rare cultural sweet spot wherein she
scoops up awards for artistic excellence while also reliably
hitting the best-seller lists. In her best work-a category in which
her latest, "Transcription," certainly belongs-she maneuvers the
tropes of the murder-mystery genre, of historical fiction, and of
privileged white Britishness into a kind of critical salvage of
women's work, women's lives..."--New Yorker
"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 sharp, witty espionage tale from best-seller and true lieterary
master Kate Aktinson...It's thrilling and darkly funny."--Marie
Claire
"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
"Although engrossing from beginning to end, "Transcription" starts
at a measured pace, with the tandem narratives only gradually
gaining velocity. But when they are finally in sync and operating
at peak capacity, the result is exhilarating...Transcription" is
another triumph for Atkinson - suspenseful, moving, insightful and
original."--The San Francisco Chronicle
"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
"Atkinson is brilliant. Her characters are brilliant. Her command
of the back-and-forth narrative, the un-fixedness of memory, the
weight that guilt accrues over time and how we carry it is
remarkable."--NPR.org
"Atkinson never fails to take us beyond an individual's
circumstances to the achingly human, often-contradictory impulses
within. And, as all of Atkinson's readers know, she is an exquisite
writer of prose, using language with startling precision whether
she is plumbing an inner life, describing events of appalling
violence, or displaying her characters' wonderfully acerbic wit.
Evoking such different but equally memorable works as Graham
Greene's The Human Factor (1978) and Margaret Drabble's The Middle
Ground (1980), this is a wonderful novel about making choices,
failing to make them, and living, with some degree of grace, the
lives our choices determine for us."--Booklist, Starred Review
"Atkinson offers up an intriguing thriller about a woman whose past
- tracking the movements of British Fascist sympathizers in WWII -
comes back to haunt her"--Entertainment Weekly
"Atkinson writes the way LeBron dunks or Stephen Hawking theorizes;
she can't help but be brilliant."
--Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
"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's style is singular and delightful. No matter the genre,
Atkinson displays more wit and word play, more delight in the
fecundity of the English language, than just about any contemporary
novelist."--The Boston Globe
"Atkinson's writing is, as always, heaven to read... Atkinson has
that gift, throughout her detective novels (the splendid Jackson
Brodie series) and her recent wartime fiction -- she's both telling
us a story and pulling back the curtain just a bit, showing us how
she tells the story, how she builds this delicate house of cards.
It's mesmerizing, from every angle."--Seattle Times
"Endlessly devious... Atkinson loves her research, but she doesn't
need much help concocting original stories that resemble no one
else's and take the breath away. Even her literary allusions
sparkle."--Janet Maslin, 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
"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
"In her novel's complex web of fiction and fact, copies and
originals, Atkinson shows that transcription can take us closer to
the truth."--Financial Times
"Kate Atkinson has carved out a niche as a stylistic interloper,
elevating seemingly grimy crime fiction with her mordant wit and
skipping from family sagas to speculative fiction. She returns to
radiant form with her latest, Transcription, a deceptively
subversive spy novel..."--Vogue
"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
"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
"So what is this extraordinarily entertaining novel really about? A
great part of its genius is the way it can't be summarized. It
materializes out of foreshadowings, reverberations, revisions and
transformations. There has never really been a timeline in Ms.
Atkinson's novels, but rather a timescape, a realm in which
everything exists at once in potentiality and only gradually
emerges as a story that is as much quandary as plot. And, indeed,
Ms. Atkinson's buoyant wit and cheerful irony make the misfortunes
in these lives, including Juliet's, not tragedies but kind-hearted
lessons in the human condition."--Wall Street Journal
"The acclaimed author of Life After Life, Atkinson brings
her trademark shar, insightful writing to this fascinating tale of
intrigue."--Good Housekeeping
"There is intrigue. There are surprises. But the unknowns aren't
always what we think they are. The deepest pleasure here, though,
is the author's language. As ever, Atkinson is sharp, precise, and
funny . . . Another beautifully crafted book from an author of
great intelligence and empathy."--Kirkus, Starred Review
"This is intelligent historical fiction that entertains with great
wit"--Christian Science Monitor
"Transcription is historical fiction at its best. Atkinson enjoys
her research and uses it creatively to charm and inform her
readers. She's not a pedant, but an accomplished storyteller with
history as her background."--Dallas Morning News
A "dazzling novel."--People
PRAISE FOR A GOD IN RUINS:
"Atkinson isn't just telling a story: she's deconstructing,
taking apart the notion of how we believe stories are told. Using
narrative tricks that range from the subtlest sleight of hand to
direct address, she makes us feel the power of storytelling not as
an intellectual conceit, but as a punch in the gut."--Publishers
Weekly
PRAISE FOR LIFE AFTER LIFE:
"Kate Atkinson is a marvel. There aren't enough breathless adjectives to describe LIFE AFTER LIFE: Dazzling, witty, moving, joyful, mournful, profound. Wildly inventive, deeply felt. Hilarious. Humane. Simply put: It's one of the best novels I've read this century."--Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl
![]() |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
![]() |