Kate Atkinson books in order

When Ruby Lennox was conceived by Bunty - albeit grudgingly- she ended up being born when George, her father, was at the Dog and Hare in Doncaster telling a woman adorning an emerald dress and a D-cup that he wasn't married.

Bunty never wanted to marry George to begin with, but alas here she was, left with three little girls in a flat above the pet shop in a dilapidated street beneath York Minster.

Ruby tells the story of The Family, from that day at the tail end of the nineteenth century when a traveling French photographer catches a fragile yet astounding Alice and her children, to the jocular yet memorable events of Ruby's own life.

In the beginning, the Fairfaxes lived grandly at Fairfax Manor in the great forest of Lythe. Over the centuries however, the once glorious forest has been destroyed; getting replaced by Streets of Trees that have taken a toll on the population of the Fairfaxes.

Sixteen year-old Isobel Fairfax, who gets caught in Shakespearean time warps, now knows a fair bit about the past; one that makes her to desperately wait for her mother’s return - the attenuated, dangerous Eliza whose disappearance still remains a mystery.

Located in an island off the west coast of Scotland is a large disintegrated house, once home of their ancestors, where Effie and her mother Nora take refuge and tell each other stories.

Nora at the beginning narrates a recollection of who her father was, about Jimmy, Jack and Ernie - nothing that her daughter really fancies hearing.

Effie in turn tells of her life in a Dundee college where she lives in a torpid relationship with Bob - a student who rarely gets out of bed and never attends lectures.

Inexplicable things however begin happening. Effie being followed, the killing of old people and the unknown whereabouts of the mysterious yellow dog…

Playful and often intense, Not the End of the World is Kate Atkinson's first collection of short stories. The book takes an exploration of the world we think we know, while at the same time offering insight into the other world that lurks just beneath the surface of our consciousness.

From Charlene and Trudi who obsessively make lists while bombs explode in the streets, to Meredith Zane who could have finally discovered the secret to eternal life, stories collected in the book show just how there is no limit when the worlds of material existence and imagination collide.

Juliet Armstrong, an eighteen-year old, is reluctantly recruited into the erratic world of espionage in 1940. Placed in the obscure M15 department where she is tasked with monitoring the movements of British Fascist sympathizers, she soon finds out just how tedious and terrifying the work can be.

Now a producer at the BBC ten years later, Juliet- who is surprisingly faced by figures from her past- begins to acknowledge that choices do indeed have consequence.

1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time.

The notorious queen of this glittering world is Nellie Coker, ruthless but also ambitious to advance her six children, including the enigmatic eldest, Niven, whose character has been forged in the crucible of the Somme. But success breeds enemies, and Nellie’s empire faces threats from without and within. For beneath the dazzle of Soho’s gaiety, there is a dark underbelly, a world in which it is all too easy to become lost.

Childless and recently divorced, all that forty-something year old Elizabeth wants is to live a life of isolation.

She as such moves into a converted Victorian mansion—full of history, character and woodworm—only for her privacy to be invaded by her best friend, her sister, their mother, the builder and a photographer.

The arrival of Elizabeth however awakens a former inhabitant of the house from her resting place; one that revisits her own long-forgotten past.

This is a play about love, death, identity and evolution.

A baby is born during a snowstorm in England in 1910, but unfortunately dies before she can even take her first breath.

The same baby is however born for a second time during a snowstorm in England in 1910, and lives to tell about it.

What if we would be able to live for an infinite number of times? Would you live again and again until you eventually got it right? Would you want to save the world from the inevitable?

The book is about Teddy Todd - a would-be poet, heroic World War II bomber pilot, husband, father, and grandfather – and his navigation through the perils and advancements of the 20th century.

Despite everything he endures in battle, Teddy’s greatest challenge will be to face life in a future he never expected to have.

A God in Ruins, funny and emotionally devastating in equal measure, takes a look at war and its ripple effects not just on those who live through it, but likewise on future generations.

Jackson Brodie, a former police inspector turned private investigator, lives a life marred by death, intrigue and misfortune.

Haunted by a family tragedy of his own, he attempts to unravel a mystery of three cases; the little girl who went missing in the night, the beautiful office worker who fell victim to a random attack and the tale of a new mother who found herself trapped in a hell of her own making.

Despite the fact that the first case took place over thirty years ago, Brodie will be startled to discover that the cases, albeit diverse, are connected…

People who had thronged to catch a glimpse of the lunchtime show at the Edinburgh Festival end up witnessing a grisly road rage incident and a near homicidal attack.

Ex-cop, ex-private detective and recently accomplished millionaire, Jackson Brodie, also happens to be an innocent bystander - until he becomes a murder suspect.

A washed up comedian, a mysterious Russian woman, a female police detective and the spouse to a devious real estate tycoon play an intricate role in driving Jackson Brodie from retirement and into the core of several mysteries.

In Devon, a six-year old girl witnesses a horrific crime and the man who was convicted for it is released from prison thirty years later.

In Edinburgh, sixteen-year old Reggie, who works as a nanny for a G.P, finds out that her employer has disappeared with the baby and no one else seems bothered by it.

Across town, Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe also happens to be looking for a missing person.

On a train, ex-detective Jackson Brodie suddenly hears a shocking sound.

When will there be good news…?

Security chief Tracy Waterhouse leads a quiet, orderly life until she comes across Kelly Cross, a perpetual offender, mishandling her young child. Tracy ends up makes a foolhardy purchase after one moment of insanity; one that instantly turns her world upside down.

Both Jackson Brodie - who was innocently walking the dog - and Tilly, an elderly actress with enough problems of her own, witness the bizarre exchange; all three eventually learning that no good deed goes unpunished.

Jackson Brodie, a former military man turned private eye, has retreated to a quiet seaside village in North Yorkshire; in the occasional company of his rebellious teenage son Nathan, and ageing Labrador Dido.

Something dark however lurks in the picturesque setting.

When a wife comes asking for proof over her infidel husband, Brodie is convinced that the case is as simple as it sounds. That’s however until a chance encounter with a dejected man on a crumbling cliff guides him to a sinister network.

Both old secrets and new lies will be entwined in this tale.