Book Review: When Will There Be Good News?

When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson, read by Ellen Archer, Publisher: Hachette Audio; Unabridged edition (September 24, 2008) , ISBN-10: 1600244521.

Rating: 4 STARs
Source: Public Library

This is my third Kate Atkinson novel. The first was Case Histories some years ago and I remember liking it pretty well. But then I read Behind the Scenes at the Museum and, oh my goodness, was it a great book! (You can read my review here.) This is the first of her novels that I've listened to and Ellen Archer does a wonderful job. I could listen to her brogue all day.

When Will There Be Good News starts off with a dramatic knife attack of a mother and three children that leaves only one child alive - Joanna Mason. We fast forward 30 years to a grown up Joanna (Dr. Hunter), married with baby and nanny (Reggie). Jackson Brodie, a retired detective and a recurrent character in Atkinson mysteries, is part of a side plot as is Louise Monroe, local police detective. A train crash, a gun-wielding crazy murdering husband, and a kidnapping....plus marriage problems and bit of love interest...all is woven into an intriguing overarching story thread.

There's so many plots, sub-plots, I can't imagine how to even begin to summarize. But somehow Atkinson makes it work. I did find myself having to search back and try to figure out how in the world she got to some places in the story. And sometimes the coincidences were too hard to believe and too hard to keep up with.

Atkinson uses literary references, nursery rhymes, hymns, and traditional poems throughout the novel which I loved. Since April is National Poetry Month, I thought I'd give you a few links to some of them:

Lyke Wake Dirge (Link is to the whole poem with a 'how-to' on understanding it, but below are the two stanzas Atkinson quoted.)

When thou from hence away art past,
Every nighte and alle,
To Whinny-muir thou com'st at last;
And Christe receive thy saule.

If hosen and shoon thou ne'er gav'st nane
Every nighte and alle,
The whinnes sall prick thee to the bare bane;
And Christe receive thy saule.

This ae nighte, this ae nighte,
Every nighte and alle,
Fire and fleet and candle-lighte,
And Christe receive thy saule.

My Last Duchess by Robert Browning (Not quoted, but Atkinson mentions.)

The Mistletoe Bough by Thomas Haynes Bayly (Not quoted, but mentioned.)

His Pilgrimage by Sir Walter Raleigh (Link to the whole poem, referenced stanza below.)

Give me my scallop - shell of quiet,
My staff of faith to walk upon,
My scrip of joy, immortal diet,
My bottle of salvation,
My gown of glory, hope`s true gage;
And thus I`ll take my pilgrimage.

I would definitely recommend this audio rendition, but I bet if I had read it I would have marked up the pages with favorite phrases and passages. Atkinson has a wonderful way with the English language!