Back at work on a snowy Monday, getting over our collective chili hangover from Saturday's Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon...
So many books pass through my hands in a day. Some intrigue me, some offer no temptation whatsoever. What sort of thing intrigues me? I've just started Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, and it's just the sort of book that pulls me in on the strength of just the synopsis on the dust jacket. British, family setting, mysteries that reverberate over decades, a promise of resolution. So far, it's not disappointing me.
Powells did a review:
What makes Atkinson's award-winning debut and her subsequent writing so beguiling is her ability to delicately measure humor and pathos -- always a tricky balance. Her language is so playful and inventive that when we are suddenly spun around to view a bloody death, or to peek at the despair of loneliness there is a jolt -- a sudden intake of breath. Atkinson does this with such skill that the reader does not feel manipulated. Quite the contrary, the reader is invited to share all of these characters' stories -- not just the sensationalism of bereavement and crime.
Case Histories is such a satisfying novel, one that is admittedly aided by the inherent compelling nature of a good mystery, yet all the while Atkinson's language can't fail to delight, being psychologically keen, whippet quick, and utterly joyful. You will never want this book to end, yet, like the best mystery novel, you'll stay up all night to find out exactly how it does.
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