A GOD IN RUINS: KATE ATKINSON

I really enjoyed this book, the second by Atkinson about this family, mostly set during WW II and after. Like many of her other books, she jumps back in forth in time, which I like, following the life of Teddy Todd, the brother of Ursula Todd, the protagonist of her earlier novel, LIFE AFTER LIFE, This is a big, old. sprawling novel, covering four generations, almost a century.  I loved it.  Teddy is the major character, brought up in wealth, at Fox Corner, before being thrust into WW II as a pilot. Much of the novel revolves around the sorties that Teddy flies over Germany, knowing that his and his crews chances of returning are ridiculously low (less than 50%), almost a suicide mission.  Teddy manages to survive 70 some missions and is considered by his crew a good luck charm.  The courage of this generation, their willingness to fly off in the sky, knowing they may not make it home, humbles the reader with admiration for the courage of these men.  These flights destroy any faith Teddy's had in mankind thus the 'god in ruins,' is his realization of the uselessness of his missions, this destruction of cities as well as the  killing of innocents, just the most recent incarnation of destruction, repeated century after century, all in the name of an idea.

Alternating between these chapters, are more prosaic narratives of Teddy's life after the war, his marriage to his 'best friend' as a child, Nancy, a neighbor.  He becomes a journalist of sorts, writing for nature magazines, mostly about birds, making just enough to get buy.  The two have a daughter, Viola, self centered, angry, never satisfied with her life, her father and as he says, "I love her to death but it's hard."  Part of her anger stems from the early death of her mother, Nancy, when she's ten and the thought that her father may have killed her . And, indeed, to a child it may have looked that way but Teddy smothers Nancy, in the last throes of life and suffering, which is what Nancy wanted.

The rest of the novel, after Nancy's death, goes down hill, as does Teddy, as he never quite reconciles himself to life alone, seeks no women, no travel, no excitement, shuffles on, being there after Viola's disastrous marriages, her having lived at first in a commune, and for her children, whom she never seems to love and regards as a burden.  Teddy, of course, steps in as a grandfather, and they live with him on and off during Viola's fits and starts in life.  Teddy's standing in as a grandparent allows both children some semblance of a secure childhood and despite Viola, they turn out well, the son a guru living in Bali, the daughter happily married, who helps Teddy through old age and various phases, from his home to independent living, to a rest home.

Viola, of course, has little to do with Teddy and ironically, she becomes a world famous writer, her first book about growing up in a unhappy household.  And the novel ends with a twist, the only one which,  if the reader has read LIFE AFTER LIFE, you will recognize as classic Atkinson.  Though both novels are about the Todd family, they are dramatically different in form and content.  I like them both but A GOD IN RUINS took my heart.