The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
Given the title I thought I would really enjoy this book, and I was correct. I was immediately gripped by the story and the concept and whizzed through the 400 odd pages. Despite the quite complex nature of the plot and the various theoretical debates, I found it easy to read and completely absorbing. As the title suggests, the novel centres on a man called Harry August who, when he dies, is reborn at exactly the same time and in exactly the same place and circumstances. As he grows up he starts to remember his previous lives, but none of those relationships or interactions exist or have happened yet in his current life. He effectively lives for centuries, but only ever within the years of his lifespan. Whilst the story did remind me of Kate Atkinson’s fantastic Life After Life , I found it to also be completely different from it and almost as enjoyable. The novel deals with the inevitable and tricky time-travel dilemma very well and in a very upfront matter-of-f...