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70 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A mystery that stretches the boundaries of the genre, October 15, 2008
Kate Atkinson's most recent novels have seemed, on the surface of things, like a radical departure for a Whitbread Award-winning novelist whose previous works were noted for their use of magical realism and their unusual family dynamics. With CASE HISTORIES, however, the first book featuring detective Jackson Brodie, Atkinson took her well-established skill at exploring characters and relationships, and applied it to an entirely new genre --- the mystery. Since then, with ONE GOOD TURN and now with WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS?, Atkinson continues to push the boundaries of the mystery genre, writing intricate, suspenseful character studies that are bound to appeal even to literary purists who would swear they had never read a mystery novel in their lives. These three books are loosely interconnected, focusing at least in part on Brodie and Edinburgh police inspector Louise Monroe. In ONE GOOD TURN, the sexual tension that defined Jackson and Louise's interactions never came to fruition; in WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS?, readers will be intrigued to discover that both main characters, in the intervening months, have made very similar choices in their personal lives, choices that will continue to complicate their personal and professional relationships. But, as with the previous titles in this series, the private detective and the police inspector are, unusually, hardly the most important characters in the novel. Instead, Atkinson introduces a good dozen characters, each of whom carries his or her own tale of love, loss and betrayal, and whose stories come together in remarkable and, at times, surprising ways. Central to the story is Joanna Hunter, now a successful physician and new mother living in Edinburgh. As a child, however, Joanna gained notoriety for being the only survivor of a brutal triple murder that left her mother, older sister and baby brother dead. The killer was sentenced to life in prison, but after 30 years he's now out on parole, and Joanna is haunted by fears that the media --- and the assailant himself --- might find her and destroy the new life she's built for herself. Part of that new life includes Joanna's husband Neil, a somewhat shady businessman with secrets of his own, and mother's helper Reggie (short for Regina), a teenager studying for her A-levels and adopting Joanna as a surrogate mother, since few people know that Reggie's own mother died more than a year ago. Her older brother Billy is up to no good, so when Joanna disappears, Reggie doesn't know where to turn. That is, until she encounters Louise Monroe, who is investigating a suspicious fire at one of Neil's business establishments, and Jackson Brodie, whom Reggie meets by chance after he's been seriously injured in a brutal and bloody train derailment. Each of these three have their own reasons for delving into the mysteries that surround them. Besides being passably engaging mysteries, Atkinson's latest novels are utterly engrossing joint character studies. As she develops each character independently, she also, increasingly, shows them in relation to one another, developing layers of interconnection that go beyond coincidence. Language also connects the subplots in playful ways. The themes of the book, however, are a good deal darker --- focusing on young women alone in the world, on the loneliness of those who find themselves still alive when everyone they love has died, on the difficulty of forming and maintaining relationships in a fundamentally flawed world. WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS? offers sophisticated readers a mystery that stretches the boundaries of the genre, opening up the story to provide portraits of a community of sorts, united by proximity and by loss. --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One Common Thread..., January 20, 2009
A woman and three children are living in the country; a husband is off writing his novels and having affairs - in the city - and against this backdrop, the unexpected happens. On an otherwise blissful day, an intruder stalks into all of their lives, murdering the woman and two of her children, while another child cowers in the field nearby, unharmed. Except, of course, for that nasty post-traumatic stress disorder that clings to her - forever. This is the past, to which the reader is introduced in When Will There Be Good News?: A Novel, followed by an influx of seemingly unrelated characters - Reggie, who is Dr. Hunter's nanny; Louise, an unhappily-married police officer, fondly recalling a love she almost had, a long time ago; Jackson, married twice and cuckolded by a lover, whose infant child may inadvertently belong to him; and Ms. MacDonald, a former teacher, now retired. Somehow, all of these disparate individuals are connected by at least one common thread. A train wreck...Indeed, as one character hurtles along on a train headed toward London, or so Jackson believes, it is actually headed toward Edinburgh. When it lurches and turns on its side, its passengers tossed about, everything becomes tangled - literally. When Jackson ends up in hospital, miraculously kept alive by CPR administered by one Reggie Chase, he has the wrong ID on him. This fact sets the tale in a completely different direction. Unbeknownst to these two characters - Reggie, the nanny, and Jackson, a former police detective - Dr. Hunter and her baby have gone missing. Ah, yes - Dr. Hunter is the former Joanna Mason, the child accidentally left alive by the murderer all those years ago - and to compound the case even further, the murderer, one Andrew Decker, has just been released from prison. With the alternating storylines and characters, careening toward the answers to so many questions, I kept turning these pages, almost breathless, anticipating the conclusions. And, of course, there are many surprises at the end, which makes this more than an ordinary mystery, or a simple love story, and certainly not a predictable drama. This writer skillfully teases the reader, pushing and pulling the facts around, until they arrange themselves in such a clever way. I found myself going back to the beginning again, wondering what I might have missed - what clue I had overlooked - in order to have been so stunned by the ending. I have another of Ms. Atkinson's books on my stack - One Good Turn: A Jolly Murder Mystery - which will receive my attention very soon. Laurel-Rain Snow
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54 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Jackson & Louise steal the show..., September 14, 2008
I enjoyed Atkinson's prior novels (Case Histories and One Good Turn) and looked forward to her new work especially given that one of the key charismatic players in "One Good Turn" (Jackson Brodie) returns as a central figure in this story. This story opens with a horrifying act of violence involving the family of 6-six year old Joanna, who survives and goes on to become a successful physician - with her own infant son to guard. "The best days of her life had been when she was pregnant and the baby was still safe inside of her. Once you were out in the world, then the rain fell on your face and the wind lifted your hair and the sun beat down on you and the path stretched ahead of you and evil walked on it." Sixteen-year-old Reggie works for Dr. Joanna Hunter as a nanny, caring for her infant son and her dog Sadie. Reggie determines that Joanna has turned up missing and alerts Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe (yes, the same Louise Monroe from One Good Turn) and in a coincidental meeting, engages Jackson Brodie in the missing persons search. After serving 30 years in prison, the murderer of Joanna's family is released and some believe he is related to Joanna turning up missing. The chance connection between Jackson Brodie and Louise Monroe and the resultant relationship tension - is the highlight of this novel. Both jumped into separate marriages in haste (after they thought the other had chosen someone else) and now question the path they are on especially after the chance encounter. "She (Louise) hadn't expected ever to hit forty and suddenly find herself in a two-car family, to be living in an expensive flat, to be wearing a rock the size of Gibraltar. Most people would see this as a goal or an improvement but Louise felt as if she might have taken the wrong road without even noticing the turning." As the Guardian appropriately describes Atkinson's work, it is "funny, bracingly intelligent and delightfully prickly." An example: "His Daughter (Jackson's) had recently announced her conversion to the vegetarian cause. In a word association test his automatic response to the word `lamb' would be `mint-sauce.' Marlee's would be `innocent.' The slaughter of. She was being brought up as an atheist, but she spoke the language of martyrs." Overall assessment: 1)Atkinson shares some moving insights and passages as to surviving - life, death, tragedy, the past, present and future. Her prose is plain-spoken, colorful, funny and intelligent. 2) Atkinson's character and story construction involving Jackson and Louise Munro - have her at her best. Both are solid likeable characters even if they are searching and generally unhappy. Atkinson gets you into their minds as to what they are thinking and feeling with deep character insights and reflections on life, death, sorrow, regrets and losses. Reggie, one of the heroines in the story, on the other hand, was not all that believable. 3) The stage setting for the story takes a whopping 200 pages (1/2 of the book) and weaves back and forth - with multiple characters and plot lines. By the time the set up was done, I had lost substantial interest. 4) TOO MANY. Too many characters. Too many story lines - some of which converge elegantly - while others are hurried and thinly closed out. Too many coincidences - far too many to be believable. And, finally too many tragedies involving the principal characters. Novel may best be described as a "melee." My 3 stars for this novel are for Atkinson's exceptionally clever characterization - her depiction and insights into life's struggles and tragedies woven into a crime fiction story - and that I found many passages to be mordantly funny.
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