Shrines of gaiety: Kate Atkinson at her best

I love Kate Atkinson's writing, and her 2022 outing, Shrines of gaiety, is another great addition to her stable of historical novels. Kate Atkinson always writes interesting and complex characters whom she expertly weaves into plots within plots with typical dry British humour and a strong sense of the time period.

Shrines of gaiety | Published September 2022 | Read August 2023

Shrines of gaiety is set in 1920s London. The action centres around ruthless matriarch and owner of a string of Soho nightclubs, Nellie Coker, and her six duplicitous children. There's also a librarian on a mission to find two missing teenage girls and a detective trying to bring down Nellie's empire.

I love that the women in the novel are feisty and smart, driving the story forward with confidence and panache. There's a huge cast of characters in the story, but each one is fleshed out and contributes something meaningful to the unfolding drama. It could be confusing having so many characters, each with a compelling storyline, but Atkinson writes each one exquisitely, and I found myself captivated by them all. The writing is sharp and witty and I wasn't distracted from the story for a moment. I loved librarian Gwendolen, clever and brave and dedicated to her mission, and Freda, one of the 14-year old missing girls who isn't really missing, just on her own quest for stardom, identity, and autonomy.

If the author is new to you, I also highly recommend the Jackson Brodie series, which was made for TV with Jason Isaacs in the title role. It's one of the few authentic book-to-tv translations.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐