Right up my alley (I am an absolute sucker for a time-travel book), Life After Life was just a gorgeously written, circular story. Multi-layered and refreshingly thoughtful, I was truly surprised by this book and the author's ability to weave such a dense story with such wonder and life.

Again and again we visit, through different characters' perspectives, the night Ursula Todd was born and are carried through her life as the direction of her life is changed by choice and circumstance—time and again. Sliding Doors with hints of a [a:Virginia Woolf|6765|Virginia Woolf|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1419596619p2/6765.jpg] feel to it, I found myself utterly and irretrievably addicted to the entire Todd family.

The concept, presented in the summary—What if you could live again and again, until you got it right?—is far too simplified for the development of both character and time in Life After Life. Atkinson has some outstanding story arcs for the members of the Todd family and has presented herself with an opportunity to, and the advantage of, exploring more than one outcome for each character. It's altogether brilliant.

For the audiobook version, [a:Fenella Woolgar|3492256|Fenella Woolgar|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1428349614p2/3492256.jpg] delivers a beautiful and impactful performance. Her voice, with certain phrasings especially, reminded me of [a:Julie Andrews Edwards|6781|Julie Andrews Edwards|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1373997074p2/6781.jpg], and I could've listened to her all day—and did. Her tone and delivery, matched up perfectly with the rounded repetitions within this story, and I'll be sure to look out for more of her audiobook performances in the future.

I cannot wait to rediscover these characters in the sequel, [b:A God in Ruins|3722183|A God in Ruins (Todd Family, #2)|Kate Atkinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451442002l/3722183._SY75_.jpg|42652219].