New Kate Atkinson to revisit Todd family

Kate Atkinson’s next novel will be a “masterful companion” to her bestselling book Life After Life, publisher Transworld has said.

A God in Ruins – to be published by imprint Doubleday in hardback and e-book next May - will follow Teddy, the younger brother of Ursula Todd, the protagonist from Life After Life.

In Life After Life, Ursula lived through the turbulent events of the 20th century again and again. Her younger brother Teddy and his fate was a key feature in the novel.

In A God in Ruins,  Atkinson will focus on Teddy, "would-be poet, RAF bomber pilot, husband and father – as he navigates the perils and progress of the 20th century”.

“For all Teddy endures in battle, his greatest challenge will be to face living in a future he never expected to have,” the publisher said. “A God in Ruins is a masterful companion to Life After Life, and will prove once again that Kate Atkinson is one of the finest novelists of our age.”

Life After Life won the 2013 Costa Novel Award and the IBW Book Award for 2014. The book, Atkinson’s eighth novel, was also shortlisted for a number of awards, including the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction. It has sold 321,828 copies across all editions through Nielsen BookScan.

Transworld has UK and Commonwealth rights to the novels.