Kate Atkinson Popular Books

Kate Atkinson Biography & Facts

Kate Atkinson (born 20 December 1951) is an English writer of novels, plays and short stories. She is known for creating the Jackson Brodie series of detective novels, which has been adapted into the BBC One series Case Histories. She won the Whitbread Book of the Year prize in 1995 in the Novels category for Behind the Scenes at the Museum, winning again in 2013 and 2015 under its new name the Costa Book Awards. Early life The daughter of a shopkeeper, Atkinson was born in York, the setting for several of her books. She studied English literature at the University of Dundee, gaining her master's degree in 1974. Atkinson subsequently studied for a doctorate in American literature, with a thesis titled "The post-modern American short story in its historical context". She failed at the viva (oral examination) stage. After leaving the university, she took on a variety of jobs, from home help to legal secretary and teacher. Writing career Her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the 1995 Whitbread Book of the Year and went on to be a Sunday Times bestseller. Since then, she has published further novels, as well as plays and short stories. Some of her books are part of a series of novels, starting with Case Histories, which feature the character of Jackson Brodie as a private investigator and former police inspector. Atkinson has criticised the media's coverage of her work – when she won the Whitbread award, for example, it was the fact that she was a "single mother" who lived outside London that received the most attention. In a 2018 interview she declared that she did not spend time in great literary parties or the London high life.In 2009, she donated the short story "Lucky We Live Now" to Oxfam's Ox-Tales project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Atkinson's story was published in the Earth collection.In March 2010, Atkinson appeared at the York Literature Festival, giving a world-premier reading from an early chapter from her novel Started Early, Took My Dog (2010), which is set mainly in the English city of Leeds. Atkinson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to literature. On 30 November 2018, she was the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Bibliography Novels Behind the Scenes at the Museum (1995) – winner of the 1995 Whitbread first novel and Book of the Year Prize Human Croquet (1997) Emotionally Weird (2000) Life After Life (2013) – winner of the 2013 Costa novel award A God in Ruins (2015) – winner of the 2015 Costa novel award Transcription (2018) Shrines of Gaiety (2022) The Line of Sight (TBC)Novels featuring Jackson Brodie Case Histories (2004) One Good Turn (2006) When Will There Be Good News? (2008) Started Early, Took My Dog (2010) Big Sky (2019) Death at the Sign of the Rook (2024)Plays Nice (1996) Abandonment (2000)Story collections Not the End of the World (2002) Normal Rules Don't Apply (2023)Television adaptations The first four Jackson Brodie novels have been adapted by other writers for the BBC under the series titled Case Histories, featuring Jason Isaacs as Brodie.In 2015 in the United States, Shonda Rhimes was in the process of developing a pilot called The Catch, based on a treatment written by Atkinson, and starring Mireille Enos.Her 2013 novel Life After Life was screened as a BBC drama of the same name in 2022, with Thomasin McKenzie in the role of Ursula. Awards and honours 1995 Whitbread Awards (Book of the Year), Behind the Scenes at the Museum 2009 Crime Thriller Award for The CWA Gold Dagger: When Will There Be Good News? (nominated) 2009 British Book Awards, Richard and Judy Bookclub Winner, When Will There Be Good News? 2013 Costa Book Awards (Novel category), Life After Life 2014 Walter Scott Prize shortlist for Life After Life 2014 South Bank Sky Arts Award for Life after Life 2015 Costa Book Awards (Novel category), A God in RuinsPersonal life Atkinson has been married twice: while a student, to the father of her first daughter Eve, and subsequently to the father of her second daughter Helen.Atkinson lived in Whitby, North Yorkshire, for a time, but now lives in Edinburgh. See also References External links Official website Kate Atkinson at British Council: Literature One Good Turn Reviews at Metacritic Kate Atkinson at the Internet Book List Kate Atkinson at IMDb Kate Atkinson talking about One Good Turn at MeetTheAuthor.co.uk John Mullan talks to Kate Atkinson about Behind the Scenes at the Museum for The Guardian Book Club podcast. Discover the Kate Atkinson popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Kate Atkinson books.

Best Seller Kate Atkinson Books of 2024

  • This Other Eden synopsis, comments

    This Other Eden

    Ben Elton

    SMALL, WELL APPOINTED FUTURE. SEMI DETACHED.If the end of the world is nigh, then surely it's only sensible to make alternative arrangements. Certainly the Earth has its points, bu...

  • Not the End of the World synopsis, comments

    Not the End of the World

    Kate Atkinson

    Arthur is a precocious eightyearold boy whose mother is a Blist celebrity more concerned with the state of her bank account than with her son's development. Then an enigmatic young...

  • Fortune synopsis, comments

    Fortune

    Lenny Bartulin

    An audacious, entertaining historical epic spanning continents and centuries, for readers of David Mitchell, Colum McCann, Kate Atkinson, and Eleanor Catton.Fortune is a dazzl...

  • The Tenderness of Wolves synopsis, comments

    The Tenderness of Wolves

    Stef Penney

    10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY EDITION FEATURES READING GROUP QUESTIONS AND NEW MATERIAL FROM STEF'S UPCOMING EPIC NOVEL, UNDER A POLE STARCOSTA AWARD WINNER and WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER. A brea...

  • The Orange Girl synopsis, comments

    The Orange Girl

    Jostein Gaarder

    From the author of SOPHIE'S WORLD, a modern fairy tale with a philosophical twist.'It should be read by all' VOGUE'My father died eleven years ago. I was only four then. I never th...

  • An Elegant Woman synopsis, comments

    An Elegant Woman

    Martha McPhee

    “A portrait of selfcreation in the vein of F. Scott Fitzgerald”,” (The Wall Street Journal) An Elegant Woman is “a rich exploration of legacy and memory” (Entertainment Weekly) tha...

  • The Farm at the Edge of the World synopsis, comments

    The Farm at the Edge of the World

    Sarah Vaughan

    'A great read about guilt, atonement and identity' Hello'You won't want this one to end' Marie ClaireFrom the author of NETFLIX SENSATION ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL1939, Will and Alice...

  • A Demon in My View synopsis, comments

    A Demon in My View

    Ruth Rendell

    Arthur Johnson doesn't look like a murderous psychopath; he is a mildmannered man who has never known how to talk to women. Years of loneliness has warped his mind, turning his des...

  • The Legacy of Hartlepool Hall synopsis, comments

    The Legacy of Hartlepool Hall

    Paul Torday

    Hartlepool Hall has been in Ed's family for generations but is that about to change, and who is the mysterious Lady Alice?'A deliciously dark comedy about class, snobbery and a va...

  • Essays and Letters synopsis, comments

    Essays and Letters

    Friedrich Hölderlin, Charlie Louth & Jeremy Adler

    One of Germany's greatest poets, Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (17701843) was also a prose writer of intense feeling, intelligence and perception. This new translation of se...

  • The Wildflowers synopsis, comments

    The Wildflowers

    Harriet Evans

    'I adored The Wildflowers. A sweeping, epic, moving read' Marian KeyesThe new novel by Sunday Times bestseller Harriet Evans will transport you to a Dorset beach house, where you c...

  • The House at the Edge of the World synopsis, comments

    The House at the Edge of the World

    Julia Rochester

    LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION AND SHORTLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE 2016Part mystery, part psychological drama, Julia Rochester's The House at the Ed...

  • Summary of A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson synopsis, comments

    Summary of A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

    Instaread

    Summary of A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson   Preview: A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson is a novel set primarily in England that is about the horrors of war, the joys and challe...

  • Shrines of Gaiety synopsis, comments

    Shrines of Gaiety

    Kate Atkinson

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The awardwinning author of Life after Life transports us to a restless London in the wake of the Great Wara city bursting with money, glamour, and corrup...

  • The Castle in the Pyrenees synopsis, comments

    The Castle in the Pyrenees

    Jostein Gaarder

    Two former lovers are brought back together ... but can they really trust their pasts? The new novel from the bestselling author of SOPHIE'S WORLD.Through five intense years in the...

  • Monsieur Ka synopsis, comments

    Monsieur Ka

    Vesna Goldsworthy

    'A beautiful haunting novel… looking at a familiar London through a frosty, snowy lens. Wonderful' Caryl PhillipsThe London winter of 1947 is as cold as St Petersburg during the Re...

  • The Garden of Lost and Found synopsis, comments

    The Garden of Lost and Found

    Harriet Evans

    Don't miss the STUNNING new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author, Harriet Evans THE BELOVED GIRLS is available to buy now!'Spellbinding' Independent'My top book of 2019' DI...

  • Introductory Lectures on Aesthetics synopsis, comments

    Introductory Lectures on Aesthetics

    Georg Hegel, Michael Inwood & Bernard Bosanquet

    No philosopher has held a higher opinion of art than Hegel, yet nor was any so profoundly pessimistic about its prospects despite living in the German golden age of Goethe, Mozart...

  • Season of Blood synopsis, comments

    Season of Blood

    Fergal Keane

    When President Habyarimana’s jet was shot down in April 1994, Rwanda erupted into a hundredday orgy of killing – which left up to a million dead. Fergal Keane travelled through the...

  • A Love Story for Bewildered Girls synopsis, comments

    A Love Story for Bewildered Girls

    Emma Morgan

    'An utterly gorgeous novel. It will forever hold my heart in its pages' Pandora Sykes, cohost of The HighLow podcastGrace loves a woman. Annie loves a man. Violet isn't quite sure....

  • Five Steps to Happy synopsis, comments

    Five Steps to Happy

    Ella Dove

    AS SEEN ON ITV'S LORRAINE'An uplit treasure' Red magazineWhen struggling actress Heidi has a lifechanging accident aged 32, her world falls apart. Stuck in hospital and unable to w...

  • The Trouble with Goats and Sheep synopsis, comments

    The Trouble with Goats and Sheep

    Joanna Cannon

    “I loved this book. It's one of those books that you just want to give to everybody.” Nancy Pearl on NPR’s Morning Edition “An astute, engaging debut” (Publishers Weekly), The Tro...

  • Case Histories synopsis, comments

    Case Histories

    Kate Atkinson

    The first book in Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie Mysteries series, called "The best mystery of the decade" by Stephen King, finds private investigator Jackson Brodie following thre...

  • Swansong synopsis, comments

    Swansong

    Kerry Andrew

    ‘Swansong is the real thing, right from the start: spiky, strange and contemporary, but always with a dark undertow of myth and folklore tugging at its telling…this is a brilliant ...

  • The Little Village Library synopsis, comments

    The Little Village Library

    Helen Rolfe

    The Little Village Library is a heartwarming story about kindness, community, and new beginnings, perfect for fans of Cathy Bramley and Rachael LucasOne of Woman & Home's top 5...

  • The World According to Anna synopsis, comments

    The World According to Anna

    Jostein Gaarder & Donald Bartlett

    When fifteenyearold Anna begins receiving messages from another time, her parents take her to the doctor. But he can find nothing wrong; in fact he believes there may be some truth...

  • Calling Major Tom synopsis, comments

    Calling Major Tom

    David M Barnett

    'I loved everything about it.' Goodreads 'This book made me laugh, cry, giggle and gasp.' Goodreads'One of my favourite books of the year. Charming and very sweet.' Goodreads He...

  • Wentworth - The Final Sentence On File synopsis, comments

    Wentworth - The Final Sentence On File

    Erin McWhirter

    The official inside story from the cast and exclusive untold secrets from one of the most beloved Australian series in television historyEpic shiv fights. Shocking deaths. Lethal h...

  • The Bhagavad Gita synopsis, comments

    The Bhagavad Gita

    Juan Mascaro

    The Bhagavad Gita is an intensely spiritual work that forms the cornerstone of the Hindu faith, and is also one of the masterpieces of Sanskrit poetry. It describes how, at the beg...

  • Three Things About Elsie synopsis, comments

    Three Things About Elsie

    Joanna Cannon

    The bestselling author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep delivers a suspenseful and emotionally satisfying novel “infused with warmth and humor” (People) about a lifelong friend...

  • Death at the Sign of the Rook synopsis, comments

    Death at the Sign of the Rook

    Kate Atkinson

    The highly anticipated return of Kate Atkinsons’ "irresistible" (New York Times) private eye Jackson Brodie, whose newest adventure pays homage to Agatha Christie in the latest ins...

  • The Lady in the Veil synopsis, comments

    The Lady in the Veil

    Leah Fleming

    'I found the photograph album by chance when we were clearing out the old coach house. It must have been sitting on the garage shelf for years among all the other family rejects.' ...

  • Home of the Gentry synopsis, comments

    Home of the Gentry

    Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev & Richard Freeborn

    On one level the novel is about the homecoming of Lavretsky, who, broken and disillusioned by a failed marriage, returns to his estate and finds love again only to lose it. The se...

  • The Many Daughters of Afong Moy synopsis, comments

    The Many Daughters of Afong Moy

    Jamie Ford

    AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick The New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet returns with a pow...

  • Cold Comfort Farm synopsis, comments

    Cold Comfort Farm

    Stella Gibbons

    One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World''Brilliant ... very probably the funniest book ever written' Sunday TimesWhen sensible, sophisticated Flora Poste is orphaned at...

  • Blindfold synopsis, comments

    Blindfold

    Lyndon Stacey

    'The blindfold was a major hindrance. So much depended on body language with animals Without it, it felt uncomfortably like a game of Russian roulette.'Gideon Blake, artist and ani...

  • Liveforever synopsis, comments

    Liveforever

    Andres Caicedo

    Andrés Caicedo's novel Liveforever is a wild celebration of youth, hedonism and the transforming power of music.María del Carmen Huerta lives a respectable middleclass life in Colo...

  • The Orphan of Salt Winds synopsis, comments

    The Orphan of Salt Winds

    Elizabeth Brooks

    For fans of Eowyn Ivey, Rose Tremaine, and Kate Atkinson, The Orphan of Salt Winds is a bewitching debut about the secrets that haunt us.England, 1939. Tenyearold Virginia Wrathmel...

  • More Than You Can Say synopsis, comments

    More Than You Can Say

    Paul Torday

    The bestselling author of SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN returns with a Buchanesque thriller.'Torday has an extraordinary gift for making apparent "normality" look sinister and strang...

  • A Lifetime of Impossible Days synopsis, comments

    A Lifetime of Impossible Days

    Tabitha Bird

    Australian Women's Weekly GREAT READ for August'Prepare to immerse yourself in wonder, childish delight and dark, dark trauma in this unique novel from a new and important Australi...

  • Light Shining in the Forest synopsis, comments

    Light Shining in the Forest

    Paul Torday

    'An unsettling, haunting story...memorable, atmospheric and tense' THE LADY'Wellwritten, wellcrafted and constantly gripping' DAILY MAIL'A disquieting and atmospheric psychological...