A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson is one of the best books I have read for years. It is the sequel to Life after Life which was the first Kate Atkinson book that I hadn’t enjoyed (I seem to have been in a minority of one given the overwhelmingly positive reviews), so I wasn’t expecting to be bowled over by the brilliance of A God in Ruins. And yet I was. It is a gentle and beautiful book, which, given much of the subject matter is the RAF bombing campaign in the Second World War, is particularly remarkable.

The story picks up from Life after Life, where the life of Ursula’s Todd is examined again and again as different scenarios play out, to follow this time the life lived (in this version anyway) of Ursula’s brother Teddy.

The sections on Teddy’s war as an RAF bomber pilot are fascinating. Whilst I have seen the aeroplanes in museums, and read and watched many non-fiction accounts and fiction films, the smells, noise, fear, and experience of being in the cockpit is brought to life here in a way I’ve never seen or read anywhere before.

But what is so brilliant about this book is the characterisation. You cannot fail to warm to Teddy who tries to live his life with kindness, love and support for all those around him. Post-war it’s a life he had not expected to live after beating the odds that were very much stacked against him to survive.

In contrast, Teddy’s daughter Viola is awful. To be fair she never gets over the premature loss of her mother, but this is despite her father’s kindness and devotion in caring for her and giving her the best possible upbringing in the circumstances. She inflicts on her own children the chaos of a drug fuelled alternative upbringing in a commune with a trail of unsuitable men and friends in tow. This almost ends in disaster for Teddy’s grandchildren, who are craving the security that Teddy is then able to step in and provide in place of their own mother. A deeply touching relationship then develops between Teddy and his grown-up grandchildren. The visits to Teddy’s care home struck a chord with me and there is also a brilliant depiction of an awful night out in York where it all falls apart for Viola.