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Normal Rules Don't Apply

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Normal Rules Don't Apply

By: Kate Atkinson
Narrated by: Paterson Joseph
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The first story collection from Kate Atkinson in twenty years, Normal Rules Don't Apply is a dazzling array of eleven interconnected tales from the bestselling author of Shrines of Gaiety and Life After Life

In this first full collection since Not the End of the World, we meet a queen who makes a bargain she cannot keep; a secretary who watches over the life she has just left; a man whose luck changes when a horse speaks to him.

With clockwork intricacy, inventiveness and sharp social observation, Kate Atkinson conjures a feast for the imagination, a constantly changing multiverse in which nothing is quite as it seems.

‘What really binds these stories is their underlying theme, which has perhaps always been Atkinson’s true subject: the nature of storytelling itself’ Times Literary Supplement

‘Life in all of its surreal, tragic and comic glory is perfectly captured within these pages’ Red

‘Sublime’ Good Housekeeping


©2023 Kate Atkinson (P)2023 Penguin Audio

 Anthologies & Short Stories Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Magic Magical Realism Short Stories Witty Funny Mind-bending Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

What really binds these stories is their underlying theme, which has perhaps always been Atkinson’s true subject: the nature of storytelling itself. She can be very funny, but she is highly serious about the idea that human existence is bound up with words… If you’re thinking about what fiction means, no invocation could be more thought-provoking or ironically complex
What joy! A loosely connected collection of short stories from Kate Atkinson. Life in all of its surreal, tragic and comic glory is perfectly captured within these pages.
Sublime … showcases her superb storytelling and the wit of her writing
All kinds of stories are inside these tales – fairy stories, creation myths, fantasy, Bible stories, tabloid headlines, soaps, movies and crime. Atkinson’s sly humour percolates all the way through, but there’s also humanity, hope and forgiveness... The simplicity of the short story form belies the book’s multi-layered approach. As soon as you get to the end, you’ll be tempted to just start at the beginning again to see the nuances you missed first time round, and tease out the threads that run between each tale.
Hilarious, breathtaking, horrific, irresistible ... [Atkinson is] always in command ... Heart in mouth, I never wanted this book to end
Atkinson has the happy knack of capturing the nature of her characters with arch aplomb
Dazzling ... Most striking of all is the abiding sense of infectious, slightly bonkers fun.
A deftly interconnected short-story collection [that is] varied and inventive
Funny, erudite and profound
Here you will find lots of tricks, lots of playfulness, clever narrative engineering.
All stars
Most relevant
Each story is beautifully written, clever, funny and intriguing. I enjoyed the links between the stories and it was superbly read by Paterson Joseph.
I would highly recommend.

Superb.

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I love Kate Atkinson and this collection is outstanding. Clever, funny, magical. I laughed out loud at parts and cried at others. Thank you!

Brilliant

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Impossible to predict the direction about to be taken by each of the stories but linked in a strange way, they kept my husband and me fully entertained through a lot of long windy, rainy drives. We’ve always loved Kate Atkinson’s novels - always good. Loved the narrator too. Made a great job of maintaining the humour of Kate’s writing. Thoroughly recommend.

Weirdly wonderful

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I loved this book! It is so clever, engaging and weird. I really like how there are vast numbers of threads running through all the stories. It’s stimulating and totally entertaining. Paterson Joseph reads it beautifully. He brings out all the humour and pathos. I really think this was a perfect combination.

Genius story and superb narration

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Having devoured all of Kate Atkinson’s books and absolutely loved them I was so disappointed with this one. I loved the tale of Connie and Franklin and would have loved for that to be a whole book in itself, but the others left me indifferent, which is highly unlike all her other books.

The narration was okay but rather irritating that he didn’t seem to finish some words, as if the volume had been turned down.
Will eagerly await her next book.

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