Book review: A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

What if the new Kate Atkinson were even better than the last?

That's the audacious question Atkinson's publisher asks on the proof of her new novel, A God in Ruins. Audacious, yes, but there's a reason it's okay to ask that question - because the new Atkinson is even better than the last.

A God in Ruins is a companion novel to Life After Life. A companion, not a sequel, and there's a reason to not call it a sequel that you'll understand once you finish the book. The novel follows Teddy, the younger brother of Life After Life's protagonist Ursula, through the Second World War and across the years, also taking in his descendants.

And that's about all I can say about the plot of A God in Ruins, because anything further would take away from your enjoyment. What I will say is that A God in Ruins is as magical as Life After Life, and it's also a novel that is absolutely stunningly crafted, without the craft ever taking away or distracting from the story. The artistry with which Atkinson writes is awe-inspiring, and her explanation of this book in a lovingly put together author's note just adds to the beauty of the book.

Review: Disclaimer by Renee Knight

We're all familiar with the disclaimer that comes on some books, films and television programmes - something along the lines of any resemblance to real people or situations being coincidental. But what if that resemblance wasn't coincidental, what if it was done on purpose?

In Renee Knight's Disclaimer successful documentary maker Catherine starts reading a book she finds on her bedside table, only to discover that the main character is based on her, and the events of the book mirror something that happened long ago, and that she hoped would never be revealed to her nearest and dearest.

Disclaimer initially comes across as your average domestic psychological thriller, but it quickly becomes clear that Knight has crafted something sophisticated and different to the glut of Gone Girl imitations that have come out in the last couple of years.

Chapters alternate between Catherine, who is reluctant to reveal details about her past, and the writer of the book, whose motives are initially obscured. Disclaimer features two narrators who are both unreliable in their own ways, making it difficult to work out what really happened, but that's part of the joy of the book. And when the truth is finally revealed, it's nothing you could have imagined.