Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson is set in 1926 London and it begins with a large crowd gathering outside Holloway prison which (Ma) Nellie Coker is just about to be released from. She’s something of a celebrity, the matriarch of a large family business as she owns a string of nightclubs, all catering for different types of clientele. Her six adult children have arrived in their two Bentleys to whisk her away, but not before the press photographers have snapped their mother.

Chief Inspector John Frobisher of Scotland Yard is also among the crowd. He has been sent to Bow Street Station to shake them up, it’s thought that there’s a lot of corruption in that police station. He’s not the usual type of police inspector, he’s keen on books and might take to writing himself.

It looks like Nellie hasn’t fared well in prison, it’s the first time she had ever been there and she’s no spring chicken. Some gangsters intended to take advantage of the situation and move in on her business. There’s also a corrupt policeman making a nuisance of himself and some of Nellie’s children are less than supportive.

I loved this one which I think has an authentic atmosphere of the post WW1 society with the Bright Young Things and their excesses, including drugs, but there’s also a more domestic thread with some runaway girls being sought by Frobisher and his undercover temporary sidekick.

In general I really love Atkinson’s writing – except for When Will There Be Good News? which was far too depressing for me.

My thanks to the publisher Random House UK and NetGalley who sent me a digital copy of the book for review.

Shrines of Gaiety is due to be published on the 27th of September 2022.

9 thoughts on “Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

  1. So glad to hear you liked this because I haven’t really enjoyed her last few, although I am very fond of Jackson Brodie. I am on the waiting list for this once it actually is published.

    • Constance,
      I’ve read a few of her Jackson Brodie books but I found When Will There Be Good News? to be very depressing. There was never any good news.

  2. Hi Katrina,
    This review is so timely because I just read the starred review in Booklist, which is a terrific American Library Association publication. I’m so glad you enjoyed this one. I’ve avoided Atkinson since her novel Life after Life. I guess I could not cope with the repetitive going back to birth of the main character, over and over and over, after each death. I didn’t finish the book, but what I read (100 pages) was so excruciating, I couldn’t bear to read another of hers again. Isn’t that misguided?
    Are there other novels of hers that you really enjoyed? I read several prior to Life after Life, which I liked, but would be interested to know if you’ve liked other more recent novels.

    • Judith,
      You could give Transcription a go, I seem to remember I liked that one. She has a habit though of writing what can only be called unusual books with strange structures. Shrines of Gaiety is more normal.

  3. I don’t have this book but I will eventually get it and read it. I am behind on two earlier books of hers that have been sitting on the shelves unread.

    I was glad to see your review to get an idea of what the book is like.

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