What the critics wrote about
Emotionally Weird
‘The lustre, energy and panache of her writing are as striking as ever in this, her third novel . . . Funny, bold and memorable’
Helen Dunmore, The Times
‘Lively . . . very funny’
Sunday Telegraph
‘Complex, multi-layered and beautifully written . . . brimming with quirky characters and original storytelling . . . Kate Atkinson has struck gold with this unique offering’
Time Out
‘A truly comic novel – achingly funny in parts – challenging and executed with wit and mischief . . . an hilarious and magical trip’
Meera Syal, Daily Express
‘Her novels are remarkable both in and of themselves, and as evidence of an important emerging body of work from a brilliant and profoundly original writer’
Daily Telegraph
‘A challenging work of fiction . . . brilliantly original’
Mirror
‘Atkinson’s strength as a writer lies in her talent for observational humour’
Guardian
‘Sends jolts of pleasure off the page . . . capable of causing loud and involuntary cackling on public transport. Atkinson’s funniest foray yet . . . a novel for people who love novels . . . eccentric, unstoppably entertaining, it is a work of Dickensian or even Shakespearean plenty . . . will be enjoyed hugely by both literary and non-literary readers’
Scotsman
‘Atkinson is brilliantly, defiantly playful with the stuff of fiction’
New Statesman
‘Her descriptive powers are striking. She is also witty . . . thought-provoking and nonconformist’
Sunday Times
‘A novel purely for fun . . . entirely to be recommended’
Independent
‘Really comic, really tragic, bracingly unsentimental’
Boston Sunday Globe
‘Her enigmatic and comic flair rise to greater heights in this reductio ad absurdum
Sunday Tribune
‘Her inventive energy, unfettered by realism, make this roller coaster of a novel a highly entertaining read’
Mail on Sunday
‘A sparkling comic meditation on how authors choose to tell their stories’
Entertainment Weekly
‘Atkinson writes with the most finely tuned literary instincts . . . funny, clever and strangely moving’
Caledonian
‘Fairly crackles with energy, wit and the pleasure of writing’
Lesley Glaister, Literary Review
‘A full-bore, old-fashioned yarn – the kind that keeps you turning pages, hurrying toward the denouement long after you’ve told yourself you’re going to bed’
Washington Post
‘Subtle, evocative and wonderfully funny’
Glasgow Herald
‘A brilliant and gripping piece of fiction that not only proves Atkinson’s adeptness as a storyteller but also firmly establishes her as one of the most remarkable writers of recent times’
Yorkshire Post
‘Atkinson has found her best subject, thereby letting out the secret to writing a truly funny comic novel’
Newsday