Shrines of Gaiety

Jason Watkins dazzles listeners with his performance of this historical fiction set in London during the Roaring Twenties. The queen of Soho nightlife, Nellie Coker, is released from prison at the same time that a series of girls goes missing. Now she must defend her empire from enemies who would like nothing more than to see her ruined. As we meet the many players in this mystery, Watkins demonstrates his range, flawlessly performing the various accents of dozens of characters. He also captures the mood of the novel, creating an atmosphere both humorous and sinister, which is perfect for glamorous 1920s London. K.D.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Kate Atkinson’s novels are always interesting, always different, and this one takes us to fizzing, mad, big-spending, carefree London between the wars. Shrines of Gaiety begins in 1926, when the redoubtable Nellie Coker has been released from six months in prison. Nellie has dragged herself out of poverty, presides over an empire of five nightclubs and is a mother to six very different children. Molly is feeling her age and that the world is beginning to turn against her; rivals are snapping at her heels, she frets over her children, and a new Police Inspector is determined to bring her to justice. Gwendolen is a librarian who worked as a nurse in the Great War, and who has caught the eye of Nellie’s eldest son, Niven. These three characters are unflappable, interesting and of their time, but Atkinson writes in an almost contemporary manner, so from time to time you have to remind yourself that this is a historical novel. This is a difficult novel to classify. There is a range of small mysteries throughout the story, but it is not a mystery novel. It is certainly character driven – Atkinson provides many small clues as to the inner workings of her creations. The story itself lasts only a matter of months, and yet somehow references to the War and how it overshadows everything, make it seem more epic than it is. It is an entertaining novel of an age long gone but which lingers still. Reviewed by Lesley West   ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kate Atkinson won the Whitbread (now Costa) Book of the Year Award with her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum. Her 2013 novel Life After Life, now a BBC TV series starring Thomasin McKenzie, won the South Bank Sky Arts Literature Prize and the Costa Novel of the Year Award, was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and was also voted Book of the Year by the independent booksellers associations on both sides of the Atlantic. A God in Ruins, also a winner of the Costa Novel of the Year Award, is a companion to Life After Life, although the two can be read independently. Her five bestselling novels featuring former detective Jackson Brodie - Case Histories, One Good Turn, When Will There Be Good News?, Started Early, Took My Dog, and Big Sky - became the BBC TV series Case Histories , starring Jason Isaacs. Kate Atkinson was awarded an MBE in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours List, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Visit Kate Atkinson's website

There's a certain joy in opening a Kate Atkinson novel—a feeling that every element matters and that each surprise and delight will ultimately make perfect sense. Her latest novel, Shrines of Gaiety, takes us to London in 1926. The shadows of the Great War and the 1918 flu pandemic weigh heavily on the world. In response to these recent horrors, London's nightlife is alive, well and effervescent.  Enter Nellie Coker—club owner, mother, notorious schemer—who is just about to be released from prison. Everyone is curious to see her, though she rarely lets people get close. London's Soho neighborhood serves as the backdrop for Nellie's life, as well as for the lives of her sons and the people who work for her and against her. Each chapter shifts focus, showing a bit of a character's story, a glimpse of an encounter, a fragment of a person trying to exist in a complex world. We even get a fascinating look at characters who work in law enforcement.  Slowly, these moments overlap. Secrets, stories, debts and more come to the surface. As the fragments of the novel coalesce, readers witness interconnection, reverberations and consequences. Patience is required to see this puzzle through to its end, but the long game pays off, and there's magic in seeing the whole unexpected picture.  There's also pleasure in how Atkinson seamlessly integrates historical figures and moments into her story. Nellie Coker is a fictionalized version of "Night Club Queen" Kate Meyrick, but the novel moves beyond its inspiration, allowing the imaginative possibilities to guide the tale. Other cultural and literary figures are bandied about in conversation, which firmly establishes the novel's time and place. The history and setting add nuance to Shrines of Gaiety, but Atkinson's characters and their choices, curiosities and corruptions keep the story unfolding, making the resolution worth every second.  CORRECTION 10/25/2022: An earlier version of this review listed the incorrect year for the flu pandemic, which occurred in 1918.