From a charity shop. I'm reading one of Kate Atkinson's at the mo - and a fine book it is too :)

(03/08)
This is KA’s 3rd novel after the sublime ‘Museum’ and the not-quite-so-good ‘Human Croquet’, IMHO, but very much of the same style. In this KA seems to have experimenting with some different genres; a ‘campus’ novel, comic fiction and detective fiction, with mixed results. History tells that the crime novel is where she’s ended up, which was the best of the 3 here. That said, I did enjoy this for the humour, for the complex plot lines, and in the end because almost all the alive* characters are flawed but likable eccentrics

*includes spoilers*
As if I can even attempt to condense the storyline! Euphemia ‘Effie’ Andrews spent a strange childhood schlepping around the English coast with Nora (Eleanora – her mother who’s not her mother). The story starts with Effie at Dundee University studying English with a no-hope boyfriend, a weird mix of friends and staff and lots of strange goings on; is Effie being followed, and who is the lady in the red dress, are old people being killed, who is the Private Detective Chick and why does he keep turning up, who/what/where is the yellow dog, will Effie ever hand in any assignments! Added to this comic mixture is Effie’s attempt to piece together her past on a windswept western isle with the uncooperative Nora. And finally, Effie and various other protagonists are writing books…nicely brought up to date in the epilogue ‘Last Words’

*Effie’s dead grandfather (who’s not her grandfather), and dead aunt & uncle (who are not her aunt and uncle) are weak and/or grotesque

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

I hope this introduces a new reader to Kate Atkinson, and to the unexpected pleasures of BookCrossing :) Please leave a message here so that we can follow the book's progress...