The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

This is the discussion thread for the Winter 2022 Group Read Shrines of Gaiety in the category Fiction - Historical Fiction, 1900-1939. Please post your comments here. This thread is not restricted to those choosing this book for task 20.10, feel free to join in the discussion. Warning- spoilers ahead!

The requirement for task 20.10: You must participate in the book's discussion thread below with at least one post about the contents of the book or your reaction to the book after you have read the book.

I liked this more than I expected! I don't usually go for historical fiction, but I'm a sucker for a pretty cover and I'm glad I picked this one up at the library. I thought it was very readable considering how many plots it juggles all at once (although I did feel like one or two of them weren't as fleshed out as they could have been). It certainly brought the glitz and grime of the era to life, and I loved the cast of characters that Atkinson created.

The ending let it down somewhat, I thought it seemed a bit rushed and turned into a bit of a list of "here's what happened to everyone" with little real depth, and adding more ambiguity to the question of what happened to Florence just seemed unnecessary.

I probably sound harsher than I mean to be - I still gave it four stars, and will definitely be looking for more books by Atkinson. :)

Kate Atkinson, as always, paints a very vivid picture. I find I can always sink into wherever she is taking me. That said, in this book, I felt the main characters and storylines were muddied up with the addition of so many peripheral characters which kept taking me out of the story as I had to figure out "which one is this?"

Overall a good book that could have been a fantastic book with better editing.

I did enjoy this. I think Atkinson is so good at developing characters. I stopped at some of her wry lines just to admire them. I love her word play.
I wanted more from some story arcs and could have done with less of others. There was a lot going on, but I think that might have been done to develop the bustling feeling of the time.

I've never read this author before.

I enjoy historical fiction, so it was easy for me to get into the story, even with large cast. I don't think I would have completed the book if it was limited to say Freda's or Nellie's POV only.

I was disappointed by the fact the author abruptly end Gwendolyn's and Naveen's story lines. We learn the fates of all the major players but theirs. Even the newsboy gets a mention.

Gwendolyn seemed not to want to go back to her old life in York, and her time in London had ended up disastrous. Now that she had some financial independence, I would have liked to know what she would have done.

megscl
3 stars

I really like Kate Atkinson and didn't think this is one of her best. This novel wasn't bad, but I never felt fully immersed with the characters. Not sure if it was just my mood at the time or if it was the book itself. I listened to the audio and maybe it would have worked better as a book.

Helen B

I’m a fan of Kate Atkinson and this did not disappoint. I loved the cast of characters and the family dynamics. I lived Freda’s vulnerability. The only off note for me was the demise of Frobisher. It seemed contrived and diminished the part he had played in the narrative.

MAZZA1
I was so keen to read this book that i put it on my wish list for Christmas. I have read many books by this author and cannot deny she has a literary style all of her own. However I think I am in danger of falling out with her over this one. It has taken me an absolute age to read. I have had trouble keeping my eyes open whilst reading it and more importantly I have felt like I was digging for buried treasure throughout the book. Atkinson has take a ball of wool with different narrative lines and given it to her kitten to ravel up to such an extent that I struggled over it's unraveling. the characterisation is poor - in fact the only character I felt anything towards was Freda the rest were just re imaginings of the same Mafia type bad guy. The ending was seriously unprepossessing. I hope her next one reverts more to type

I only managed a 2 star rating and even that felt generous

I'm not a huge fan of this author but I thought I might find this era fascinating. However, I had to listen to the first chapter a few times and just couldn't really get into it and decided to just keep going and see if I can pick up on the story anyway. I must admit that while I liked some of the characters and the setting, I wasn't enamoured with the rest of it. It just felt too long and that ending just didn't make the whole 16hours of listening worth it.

This is a very lively tale that mainly takes place just following World War I in London.

There are a lot of characters, and in the beginning I would be a little annoyed as I got engaged with a new character, and then a new chapters woudl take the reader some place else, but as story enfolded and the characters get linked to each other, it becomes a really wild ride. A vivid picture is painted for the reader of London's underworld in the roaring 20's.

I agree with other that It does have a really rushed ending, with more or less a listing of what happened to everyone over the years.

The 1920s is a fascinating era and I like a book set in that time period. This one was lengthier and darker than my usual historical fiction or mystery reads, but I ended up enjoying it quite a lot. As others have noted, there are a lot of characters and plot lines to juggle. I’m probably in the minority, but I liked the way the author handled the ending of the book. For Gwendolen and Niven, “…and there they must remain, suspended between coming and going, forever.” Perfect. In contrast was the tying up of other characters’ loose ends quickly and efficiently. The book was long enough. I did not need to read an exhaustive account of what happened to everyone, but appreciated knowing how it turned out for each of them.

This was my fourth book by Kate Atkinson. Nothing has really compared to Life After Life, for me. I did like this book, but like some other comments in the discussion, some character arcs were more interesting than others. I found it a little difficult to keep track of all the female characters, and I was annoyed by the storyline of Freda and her friend. I guess I would have preferred a more focused narration, less hopping around.