The novel takes us to an entirely different level psychologically where we meet Juliet who has to fight the demons from her past that she once wanted to get rid of. Kate Atkinson has really used all her skills this time to describe with precision all the events of violence, action affection in a way that they grip us all of a sudden and we cannot stop ourselves from listening to the whole book in a single go, in the voice of Fenella Woolgar who starts in a sluggish mood but then moves along well to the end in the second half.
The book portrays a complete picture of the year 1940 that was, of course, the year of the war. The social issues and the war effects are told in an exact manner, the life of an 18-year-old who is working for the army is supposed to be like hell in that era. Juliet was charged with the duty to keep an eye on the British Fascist and to check all their ins and outs, the task was not only difficult but also quite terrifying for her but she always had one hope that she would get out of all these troubles when the war would be over.
The story, however, takes a tragic turn when she again had to face all the old demons once again a decade later. The portraying is nice like that in Big Sky and Life After Life by the same author. The secrets are well woven along with the story of the girl who has the secrets that need a lifetime to reveal in front of the general public and there are some things that she wants to keep hidden from the world as the realities to her are too dark for a common man.
