Our Noble Selves - Large Print by Kate Atkinson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A thrilling tale of post-World War II London, where the peace proves as tricky to navigate as the past, from the #1 international bestselling author of Life After Life.

When crime correspondent turned war reporter Harry Flynn returns to Britain from Singapore in 1945, he takes a quiet job with the Festival of Britain, a government-funded endeavor aimed at celebrating the nation's creativity, grit, and ingenuity. He joins a team of misfits and eccentrics as they help to ready the Festival for launch.

When a Frenchwoman goes missing, Flynn becomes the central suspect in her disappearance--and possible murder. He was the last person to see her alive, yet he has no memory of the evening they spent together. As evidence against him mounts, Flynn begins to wonder if he might actually be to blame. To make matters worse, he is surrounded by people who have their own secret agenda.

There may be a carnival atmosphere in London as the country attempts to throw off the drab privations of war, yet beneath the frivolity there is also a worthy attempt to hold up a mirror to both its history and its future. With her unique voice and her skill at conjuring the past, Kate Atkinson turns her light on a nation reconstructing its image and the lengths to which some might go to manipulate the outcome. Witty, brilliantly plotted, and with an unforgettable cast of characters, Our Noble Selves paints a vivid portrait of a former empire struggling with its identity in the aftermath of war.

Review Quotes

"[Our Noble Selves] mines delicious humor from this mismatch of grizzled cynicism and national heritage. . . . In part a workplace comedy, going behind the scenes to reveal the absurd politicking surrounding things such as the festival's cake competition . . . Atkinson deserves to be rated as highly as her countryman Ian McEwan. Like him, she boasts an immaculate prose style, a dry wit and a taste for narrative legerdemain. This splendid historical farce proves her versatility as well."
--Wall Street Journal

"Engrossing . . . So much fun to read . . . Atkinson's signature gift as a historical writer is on display as she seamlessly shifts time frames. . . . Atkinson's novel is . . . a success, an affectionate testament to the futility of any such efforts to leave the past behind."
--NPR

"[Atkinson is] one of our most adept chroniclers of the postwar United Kingdom. . . . There is richness aplenty [in Our Noble Selves]."
--The New York Times

"Delightful . . . Atkinson is a master at quick, vivid descriptions, bringing minor characters to full life. . . . The book abounds in period details, and Atkinson wastes none of them. . . . She ties up all loose ends as skillfully as Dickens. . . . Entirely satisfying. Often funny. Never predictable."
--The Boston Globe

"Witty and immaculately plotted, with vivid characters and intricate period detail deftly woven into a gripping mystery about a country reinventing itself."
--People

"Atkinson is the rare author who excels across genres. . . . In her skillful, perceptive way, Atkinson shows readers both the shiny, sometimes silly surface of things and the depths underneath."
--Bookreporter

"Another exquisitely humane novel from one of contemporary fiction's finest writers."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A workplace comedy and a madcap spy thriller . . . Atkinson's gift for galloping plot, as well as her typical attention to even the most tertiary character, make this a delicious gulp of a read."
--Literary Hub

"Atkinson deftly blends the tragicomic spirit of Evelyn Waugh's post-WWII novels with the cringe comedy of The Office in her latest history-mystery. . . . Excellent characterization and telling historical details in a wonderfully invigorating read."
--Booklist (starred review)

"Atkinson skillfully juxtaposes the emotional scars of war with laugh-out-loud farce. . . . The plot, stacked with blackmail and betrayals, builds to a satisfying resolution. This entertaining romp has a good deal of depth."
--Publishers Weekly

"Atkinson is a brilliant historical novelist, with the ability not only to juggle a large cast of characters but also to take the temperature of an entire nation."
--Literary Hub

"It may be humanly impossible to read this book without loving it. . . . Atkinson's utterly charming characters are . . . caught in the convoluted riptides of the mid-20th century."
--CrimeReads

About the Author

KATE ATKINSON won the Whitbread (now Costa) Book of the Year prize with her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum. Her 2013 novel set around the Second World War, Life After Life, was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and voted Book of the Year by independent booksellers' associations on both sides of the Atlantic. It also won the Costa Novel Award, as did her subsequent companion novel, A God in Ruins (2015), and was adapted into a critically acclaimed television series in 2022. Her bestselling novels featuring former detective Jackson Brodie became the BBC television series Case Histories, starring Jason Isaacs. She lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.