Changes

|summary=One of those rare times when a book with a strong literary style is also highly readable. Spanning 1910 to 1967 the book explores the small changes that potentially change the outcomes for the Todd family and particularly Ursula Todd who both dies before she is born and who goes on to live several remarkable outcomes. Innovative, profound but compulsively readable, this is a quite remarkable book.

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Spanning the period from just before World War One to the end of World War Two, Kate Atkinson's ''Life After Life'' tells the story of Ursula Todd. Or more accurately, it tells the potential stories of Ursula Todd. If you've seen the movie ''Sliding Doors'' then you will have some idea of the concept Atkinson explores; that of small changes in life leading to different outcomes, many of which lead to tragic endings but strangely the book manages to be a celebration of the spirit of Ursula and is often quite uplifting. It's a book that sounds like it is going to be much more confusing than it is though and the result is a very special book indeed. It's that rare thing of a book that has a strong literary style but which is also very readable.