Kate Atkinson’s most recent collection of short stories, Normal Rules Don’t Apply (Penguin Random House 2023) is a book of signs and symbols, imagination and magic, fables and fairytales, portents and pretend, the impossible and the ridiculous, all written in her beautiful, closely observational, literary prose, with evocative and atmospheric settings and descriptions, brilliantly portrayed characters, and narratives that will keep you thinking.
The 11 stories are loosely interconnected in ways surprising and satisfying. We learn about the end of the world in The Void, and how we (humans) arrived there. We meet a prescient and voluble horse; a secretary who watches her own life play out from beyond death; a stunning two-toned story about a queen, a witch and a chaotic modern day family; a group of toys and their life with their young and often unpredictable owners; a duped lover; an ambitious actress; an inexperienced female god set the task of remaking the world; and a final story, What If?, that improbably ties together all that has gone before. My favourite is Shine, Pamela! Shine! in which a ‘thoroughly divorced’ middle-aged woman reflects on her life as she deals with the arrival of an inexplicable egg. This story in particular is incredibly funny, with Pamela’s voice distinct, witty and endearing.
Themes range from families and relationships, love and grief, honour, regret, sacrifice and ambition, to fractured souls, lost dreams, familiar expectations and power wielded by those unused or unable to act responsibly. A truly stunning, imaginative and unexpected collection full of unpredictability and surprises.