When Will There Be Good News?

I'm not sure who it was that told me recently that Kate Atkinson wrote mysteries, but when I found that out, I had to go out and read one. I enjoyed this one, told from multiple perspectives, with characters who are infuriatingly obtuse, stubborn, wrong headed, and, uh... human. There were times when I thought it was going in a predictable direction, but then it took another path instead. One of the main characters is a 16 year old orphan who is heartbroken and grieving, but refuses to let anyone know her well enough to find that out. Another main character is also an orphan, a famous one who is trying to leave her notoriety behind. There are also several problematic or outright doomed marriages, as well as a couple of cases of mistaken identity. Some problems are settled by the end of the book, but others are just beginning. Entertaining, but with some serious psychological subject matter.

This was my first time reading this author and honestly just found this novel to be OK. I found it very disjointed and way to many storylines to keep track of. Of course all tied together at the end with the most thinnest of strings. I think this had the potential of being a really great book if the author had dropped some of the unnecessary baggage and focused on the core storyline. I am going to need a really good reason to give this author a second read!