When Will There Be Good News?

Kate Atkinson is one of the world's foremost novelists. Her most recent novel, Shrines of Gaiety, set in the aftermath of the First World War, is a Sunday Times bestseller. She won the Whitbread Book of the Year prize with her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum. Her three critically lauded and prize-winning novels set around the Second World War are Life After Life, an acclaimed 2022 BBC TV series, A God in Ruins (both winners of the Costa Novel Award) and Transcription. Her bestselling literary crime novels featuring former detective Jackson Brodie, Case Histories, One Good Turn, When Will There Be Good News? and Started Early, Took My Dog, became a BBC television series starring Jason Isaacs. Jackson Brodie later returned in the novel Big Sky. Kate Atkinson was awarded an MBE in 2011 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

"By becoming a crime writer she has - in a way that other "literary" types may wish to note - become a better literary writer than ever: funny, bracingly intelligent and delightfully prickly ... Kate Atkinson is that rarest of beasts, a genuinely surprising novelist" Guardian "Atkinson's genius is her sure control of plot ... immaculately - even lovingly - paced, and it is a measure of Atkinson's talent that I read it in one sitting ... insightful, often funny, life-affirming" Sunday Telegraph "An exhilarating read. Her wry humour, sharp eye for the quirks of human behaviour and subtle characterisation are a constant joy...with writing of this quality, there is good news on every page" Daily Mail "An intricately crafted tale of coincidence and fate, love and longing. From the get-go, Atkinson's pitch-perfect ear for dialogue is apparent ... As in the best crime fiction, dramatic events and unexpected twists abound, but Atkinson subverts the genre by refusing to neatly tie up every thread. And while there is plenty of blood and bitterness, redemption and resolve are well represented too. Good news all around" Independent "Atkinson's world is full of bizarre accidents and meaningless murders, but she celebrates love, laughter and literature so wholeheartedly that I cheered aloud. She is one of the most eccentric of crime writers, and perhaps the sanest. Everybody should read her" Telegraph