Effie, a college student, and her mother bond in a remote Scottish house.

Critical acclaim for Kate Atkinson:"Startlingly original" (Johanna Stoberock, The Seattle Times)"Really comic, really tragic, bracingly unsentimental." (The Boston Sunday Globe"An effervescent, affecting delight." (Rebecca Radner, The San Francisco Examiner Chronicle)"Atkinson's language is a joy." (Valerie Sayers, Commonweal)"Full of ambiguities and neat surprises." (Katharine Weber, The New York Times Book Review)"Vivid and intriguing....fizzes and crackles along." (Penelope Lively, The Independent)"Luminescent....sure and sophisticated, poetic and darkly comic."(Amanda Heller, The Boston Globe)On a weather-beaten island off the 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 real father was.Effie tells various versions of her life at college, where in fact she lives in a lethargic relationship with bob, a student who never goes to lectures, seldom gets out of bed, and to whom Klingons are as real as the French and the Germans.But as mother and daughter spin their tales, strange things are happening around them.Why is Effie being followed?Is someone killing the old people?And where is the mysterious yellow dog?In a brilliant comic narrative which explores the nonsensical power of language and meaning, Kate Atkinson has created another magical masterpiece.

Emotionally Weird is a thoroughly original and hilarious new novel about mothers, daughters, and love, by the author of Behind the Scenes at the Museum On a weather-beaten island off the 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 real father was. Effie tells various versions of her life at college, where in fact she lives in a lethargic relationship with Bob, a student who never goes to lectures, seldom gets out of bed, and to whom Klingons are as real as Spaniards and Germans. But as mother and daughter spin their tales, strange things are happening around them. Is Effie being followed? Is someone killing the old people? And where is the mysterious yellow dog? In a brilliant comic narrative which explores the nonsensical power of language and meaning, Kate Atkinson has created another magical masterpiece.

From the NUMBER 1 bestselling author of BIG SKY and TRANSCRIPTION 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? 'Sends jolts of pleasure off the page...Kate Atkinson's funniest foray yet...it is a work of Dickensian or even Shakespearean plenty' SCOTSMAN 'A brilliant and profoundly original writer' DAILY TELEGRAPH

The new novel from the author of Behind the scenes at the Museum and Human croquet.

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, the land of cakes and William Wallace, 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? Is someone killing the old people? And where is the mysterious yellow dog? 'A TRULY COMIC NOVEL - ACHINGLY FUNNY IN PARTS - CHALLENGING AND EXECUTED WITH WIT AND MISCHIEF' Meera Syal, The Express 'SENDS JOLTS OF PLEASURE OFF THE PAGE...ATKINSON'S FUNNIEST FORAY YET...IT IS A WORK OF DICKENSIAN OR EVEN SHAKESPEAREAN PLENTY' Catherine Lockerbie, The Scotsman

A large segment of the population struggles with feelings of being detached from themselves and their loved ones. They feel flawed, and blame themselves. Running on Empty will help them realize that they're suffering not because of something that happened to them in childhood, but because of something that didn't happen. It's the white space in their family picture, the background rather than the foreground. This will be the first self-help book to bring this invisible force to light, educate people about it, and teach them how to overcome it.