Emotionally Weird

On a peat and heather island off the west coast of Scotland, Effie and her mother Nora take refuge in the large mouldering house of their ancestors and tell each other stories.

Nora, at first, recounts nothing that Effie really wants to hear, like who her father was - variously Jimmy, Jack, or Ernie. Effie tells of her life at college in Dundee, where she lives in a lethargic relationship with Bob, a student who never goes to lectures, seldom gets out of bed, and to whom the Klingons are as real as the French and the Germans (more real than the Luxemburgers).

But strange things are happening. Why is Effie being followed? Why is everyone writing novels? Is someone killing the old people? And where is the mysterious yellow dog?

Review: The lustre, energy and panache of her writing are as striking as ever...Funny, bold and memorable -- Helen Dunmore * The Times *

Beautifully written...brimming with quirky characters and original storytelling. Kate Atkinson has struck gold with this unique offering * Time Out *

Sends jolts of pleasure off the page...Atkinson's funniest foray yet...it is a work of Dickensian or even Shakespearean plenty * The Scotsman *

A truly comic novel - achingly funny in parts - challenging and executed with wit and mischief...hilarious and magical -- Meera Syal * Daily Express *

Her novels are remarkable both in and of themselves, and as evidence of an important emerging body of work from a brilliant and profoundly original writer * Daily Telegraph *