by Kate Atkinson
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Product Description
A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year
Part fairy tale, part mystery, part coming-of-age novel, this novel tells the story of Isobel Fairfax, a girl growing up in Lythe, a typical 1960s British suburb. But Lythe was once the heart of an Elizabethan feudal estate and home to a young English tutor named William Shakespeare, and as Isobel investigates the strange history of her family, her neighbors, and her village, she occasionally gets caught in Shakespearean time warps. Meanwhile, she gets closer to the shocking truths about her missing mother, her war-hero father, and the hidden lives of her close friends and classmates. A stunning feat of imagination and storytelling, Human Croquet is rich with the disappointments and possibilities every family shares.
Amazon.com Review
Human Croquet is a game in which some people act as hoops while others propel a blindfolded "ball" around the course. Though the game is never actually played in Kate Atkinson's remarkable novel, Human Croquet, the parallels between plot and pastime are undeniable. Atkinson, winner of the 1995 Whitbread Award in Britain, tells the story of Isobel Fairfax and her older brother, Charles. The children's parents vanished when they were young, leaving them to the care of their grandmother, now dead, and their Aunt Vinny. Recently their father has returned with "the Debbie-wife" in tow, and they all live in Arden, the family's ancestral home built on the foundations of the original manor house that burned to the ground in 1605. According to family legend, the first Fairfax took a wife who mysteriously disappeared one day, leaving in her wake a curse on the Fairfax name. More than 300 years later, Fairfax descendants are still struggling with this painful legacy. Atkinson's novel is obviously not rooted in dull reality. Narrator Isobel has an uncanny knowledge of past and future events; Charles is obsessed with the concept of parallel universes and time travel; and a faery curse hangs over everybody. Fortunately, Kate Atkinson is a masterful writer who manages to keep her world of wonders in check. Human Croquet is no ordinary novel, and readers who venture into the Fairfax universe are in for a magical ride.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Boring, 2008-11-10
Kate Atkinson has the potential to be a great story teller. The plot of this book was unique and interesting and I liked how she brought it all together near the end. The story had many areas that just dragged on and on and on. She spent extreme amounts of time focusing on insignificant details. There was one section of the book (about 50 pages) that was execeptional and I wanted to continue reading. If she could keep the momentum going throughout the book I would definitely be a fan.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Patchy writing, scattered story, 2008-05-15
I wouldn't recommend this book. Although I like the author's language and writing in general, this book did not live up to its promise. The story plods along and then skips suddenly somewhere else, and somewhere else again. I liked Emotionally Weird very much, though, and look forward to her other books.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Not a favorite, 2008-01-07
I really liked "Case Histories" and was quite excited about starting this one. I am not the type of reader that only likes linear, neat storylines. Far from it. In fact, I like the challenge of a non-traditional novel, but this one didn't work for me. I liked parts of it quite a bit. Atkinson's sense of humor is really funny. Some of the dream sequences were interesting and well-developed. But, as a whole, the book just didn't work for me. I felt like it's unfinished and in real need of some editing, particularly all the run-ons and comma splices. As an English teacher, these really annoyed me, and made me want to bring out my grading pen! But, it's really the shifting narrators that bothered me. I don't think the story came together in any logical way. So, I can't say I recommend this one.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Entrancing, 2007-03-30
Where was once the great forest of Lythe, is now the Street of Trees. What was once the grand Fairfax Manor is now, simply, "Arden" at the end of Hawthorne Close. What was once the great Fairfax family, is now missing half its members, with the other half forced to endure a parody of normality.
Isobel Fairfax is the daughter. Her father is dead. Apparently. Her mother has made a runner, or so Isobel was told. She's still waiting for her to return...
Atkinson has pulled off a formidable feat of imagination. A book totally captivating and engrossing, it may abound in laugh-out-loud moments, but in its heart of hearts is dark, with sadness, despair, helplessness and pain resonating from every page. Full of endless twists and turns, travels through time and space, surprises and unexpected developments, it completely draws the reader in, it forces them to remain alert all through to the very end.
Rivetting, forceful, compelling, I could use tons of other such adjectives to describe it. It's one of those books that reading them makes you feel like you're actually departing your body and are being transported into a whole other reality, a different dimension. Read it
3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
 Didn't even finish the book, 2005-10-17
Although I normally enjoy Kate Atkinson's books, I didn't like this one. It goes back and forth between dreams and reality and it is hard to tell which is which. I didn't even finish reading the book, although, I must admit, I did read the last chapter.
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