Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

I have been meaning to read this for ages.  This novel won the Costa Novel Award in 2013.  A story based on ‘what if?’ scenarios.  Ursula Todd is born in February 1910 during a severe snowstorm.   In the first scenario the doctor is delayed by the snow and the baby, Ursula, dies.  In the second version, the baby lives, only to die again and again at different times of her life.   It seemed to me like a succession of short stories about the same life/character with different outcomes.  Because of the book’s unusual structure I thought it would be a dissatisfying read, but all the characters are vividly drawn and the fact that a small event in Ursula’s life can be seen in more detail as we progress through her different lives made it a compelling read.   I was interested to read the author’s notes at the end where she said the idea for the story came from asking herself what would have happened if Hitler had been kidnapped as a baby and, having explored possibilities, her belief that this seemed more of a short story than a novel.   It was a reminder of the horrors of war and how brave people were.   It was one of those books that stayed with me long after I finished reading it.  This is the first book I have read by Kate Atkinson and it won’t be my last.