Our Noble Selves

by Kate Atkinson

It’s the summer of 1951 and everyone is looking to put the dark days of the war behind them. The government’s The Festival of Britain, a celebration of the country’s creativity, grit and ingenuity.

For foreign correspondent turned war reporter Harry Flynn, it might offer the chance of redemption after a bad war in the Far East and a peace that is proving no easier to negotiate. Having failed to resume his journalistic career, he reluctantly joins an oddball team of misfits, ne’er-do-wells and downright chancers helping to ready the Festival of Britain for launch.

Flynn’s attempts to resume some semblance of a romantic life also founder when one of his dates goes missing and he is deemed to be the last person to have seen her alive. Could he have been in some way responsible for her disappearance?

Little does he realize that the answer to some of his mounting problems may lie in the hands of a precocious, straight-talking thirteen-year-old called Veronica and a rather scruffy terrier who goes by the name of Mrs Betty…

Brilliantly plotted, witty and compelling, Our Noble Selves reaffirms Kate Atkinson’s place as one of the greatest chroniclers of our times.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Mystery, British Literature, Historical, Literary Fiction, Novels

352 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication September 10, 2026

About the author

Kate Atkinson was born in York and now lives in Edinburgh. Her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and she has been a critically acclaimed international bestselling author ever since.

She is the author of a collection of short stories, Not the End of the World, and of the critically acclaimed novels Human Croquet, Emotionally Weird, Case Histories, and One Good Turn.

Case Histories introduced her readers to Jackson Brodie, former police inspector turned private investigator, and won the Saltire Book of the Year Award and the Prix Westminster.

When Will There Be Good News? was voted Richard & Judy Book Best Read of the Year. After Case Histories and One Good Turn, it was her third novel to feature the former private detective Jackson Brodie, who makes a welcome return in Started Early, Took My Dog.

Reviews

[Daren Kearl · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s no future for us, so they’re making one up out of the past…

Kate Atkinson’s Our Noble Selves fictionalises the planning of the 1951 Festival of Britain, celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2026. At a time when phrases like “Britain is broken” are frequently bandied about, the novel feels particularly resonant. It brings to mind Twenty Twelve, the mockumentary about Olympic planning, in its satirical take on a national project designed to showcase “this sceptered isle.”

The story follows a cast of quirky characters tasked with creating a grand pageant on the South Bank. Atkinson blends humour with meticulous historical detail: the narrative is enriched with real events and even maps of the exhibition layout. From a modern perspective, some of the displays—focused on industry, agriculture, and empire—might seem underwhelming. Yet the novel captures a post-war moment when such exhibitions offered a much-needed sense of optimism and collective purpose.

Atkinson is in her element here, with her wry and sharply observant style to the fore. A central theme is the tension between pageantry and truth: can carefully curated nostalgia truly evoke national pride, or does it merely gloss over more uncomfortable histories? The book suggests that these grand celebrations often sidestep the darker aspects of Britain’s past, even as they attempt to construct a unifying narrative.
Running alongside the Festival preparations is a lightly sketched murder mystery and espionage subplot. While competently handled, this strand feels somewhat incidental. Notably, Atkinson has said she originally intended to explore Flynn’s wartime experiences in Singapore and Japanese POW camps in greater depth, but ultimately omitted this material to preserve the novel’s tone—a decision that is understandable.

Fans of Atkinson will love this book, as will anyone interested in British history and culture.

Overall, Our Noble Selves is an engaging and intelligent novel that balances humour with thoughtful reflection on how nations remember—and reinvent—themselves.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

[Pooja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate Atkinson is one of favourite authors so I was really pleased to get an advance copy of this book. I raced through this and really enjoyed it, a welcome return to form for Ms Atkinson after Shrines of Gaeity which I found quite hard going. The story is all about post WW2 Britain, in particular the Festival of Britain. Running along in the background is also a murder mystery / political conspiracy. I hadn’t known about the Festival before so it was super interesting to read all about how it was set up and the different exhibitions. Her observations are witty and on point as usual - in particular it was fascinating reading about the different characters’ war experiences. I also learnt something new about the POW Railway in Asia too.
Definitely recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[Helen Haythornthwaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have awaited this new story of Kate Atkinson’s with much anticipation, ever since I heard it was on its way, and what a masterpiece it is! It encompasses my favourite genres - historical fiction and literary fiction, with the plot including a murder mystery too.

It’s set around the Festival of Britain which took place in 1951: to provide a tonic for a nation hard-hit by war. It’s told in the third person with the most marvellous and endearing main character - Harry Flynn. He’s invited to help organise elements of the festival, two years prior to its opening, and the narrative follows his and his quirky colleagues’ endeavours to bring the festival to life.

Flynn finds himself bowled along into some rather awkward situations, forever seeming to be at the whim of others, until he finds himself framed for murder and steadily begins to unravel the truth - together with his 13-year-old, ‘daughter’, Veronica.

To me, this book is a modern day classic. It’s a book written in the inimitable style of Atkinson, sparkling with sardonic humour, and peppered with the sharp, witty prose of hers which I find exquisite. It’s a book you read to enjoy the sheer pleasure of the written word. It’s not a style which will suit everyone but, to me, it’s literary genius.

The narrative moves seamlessly from the present to reflections of the past, as characters reminisce about their childhood or their time during the war. Flynn, a journalist by trade, was captured and forced to work on the Burmese railway, while a colleague of his was involved in the D-Day landings.

Atkinson has perfectly captured the brash righteousness of the upper classes, and the resourcefulness of those who had little. ‘Boy’ was such a brilliant character, and his anecdotes had me chuckling away.

I was completely fascinated by the scale of the exhibition; it’s a cornucopia of 1951, and such an intriguing setting for this novel. I loved that it transported me back to fond memories of my childhood too, as many things mentioned were still around in the mid-1960s.

I savoured and adored this book!


I was sent a proof copy by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Beachcomber · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars rounded down. I was so excited to be approved for this new Atkinson book, and the blurb sounded great. Perhaps it’s just me, but the book I read didn’t really match the mystery implied in the blurb. It was great to read about the Festival, and it’s clear there was a lot of research done. But it felt like it was the main topic of the book with the mystery a very small sub plot… someone goes missing early on, but then there’s an awful lot of Festival stuff with only occasional mentions of the disappearance. And then all the action happens fairly quickly at the end.

A lot of others seem to have really loved this, which is good - and a few who felt similarly to me. Give it a chance, and decide for yourself, as it’s a pleasant enough read if you approach it more as a historical slice of life novel, rather than a mystery.

I received a free ARC copy of this in return for an unbiased review.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. This one was a tough read for me. Had I not requested the ARC it probably would have been a DNF. But I plodded along and while it didn't wow me it did get more interesting. The beginning was a real slog. The description of the book is wholly misleading. I was expecting a plot focused on the investigation of a missing person case happening with the Festival of Britain as a backdrop. But instead what I got was a book that for the first half did little more than endlessly detail the Festival. While some of the oddities submitted for the festival and the various contests that were held were interesting it in no way was enough to hold up a thin plot. The second half of the book picked up considerably with the missing person case being investigated in earnest and the main character finding himself in several tight spots that required delicate handling. If you are a fan of historical fiction, British history, the aftermath of WWII or if you are intrigued by the Festival of Britain itself then this book is for you. If not and you are looking for a police procedural or a mystery then you should probably look elsewhere.
Harry Flynn survived a prisoner of war camp in the Far East but hasn't fully recovered from the experience. He returns to life in England but he isn't really living. He enters into a failed marriage with a woman wholly unsuited for him and spends more time with his stepdaughter Veronica and her dog Mrs. Betty than he does with his wife until one day he leaves and doesn't return. He runs into his old boss who hires him to work on the Festival of Britain, which sounds like a cross between a World's Fair and an annual summer festival. He works in an office with 2 veterans, Evans and Badger, an errand boy name Terrance but routinely referred to as The Boy and Maude who is a cross between a headmistress and a secretary. Dangerfield is one of the higher-ups and he wants there to be a Festival cake contest and Flynn is put in charge. On the day of the contest, he is surprised when the worst cake wins and it is only later that he learns that Dangerfield knows Mizzi and that the contest was rigged from the start. He is appointed as Mizzi's babysitter and is ordered to go to her house for dinner where he meets her husband Archie and daughter Cynthia. He soon realizes that Cynthia is Dangerfield's daughter because they have the same eyes. The dinner is awful and Flynn realizes that Mizzi can't cook a thing. Hoping to avoid future evenings, he makes plans for a date with a woman also working on the festival. Delphine is French and Flynn can't work out why she is still in London since she clearly seems to hate it. The date is a disaster with the two having little in common and after he puts her into a cab Flynn gets so drunk that he blacks out and can't remember much of the night the next day. He wakes up with a black eye and is confused about how he got it but assumes that he got into a fight at the bar. He spends the day with Badger interviewing women to portray Nell Gwynn at the Festival and he meets one of Badger's childhood friends. Livia is coy and flirts with Flynn but then ignores him later when he sees her out with Dangerfield. When Delphine goes missing and Flynn is the last one to have seen her he is under suspicion from the police along with the women at the Festival office. He thinks nothing more of it until Archie blackmails him with Delphine's bloody scarf and forces him to break into an apartment to steal compromising photos of Mizzi. When Flynn enters the apartment and finds the photos he realizes that the flat was the love nest of Delphine and her lover and he assumes that the man that she was having an affair with was Archie. Just as he is sorting things out, his wife Ivy shows up and dumps Veronia and Mrs. Betty on him so that she can travel with her new boyfriend. Veronia is a savvy teenager who helps Flynn investigate Delphine's disappearance so that he can clear his name. He eventually puts the pieces together and figures out that Delphine was having an affair with Dangerfield and he tried to end it because he wants to run for parliament. But she was using the photos of Mizzi as leverage. Livia, Badger and Maude were all government spies and wanted Delphine to turn Dangerfield in as a traitor but she was killed before she could. But Dangerfield didn't kill Delphine, so who did? Flynn assumed that it was Mizzi but really it was Cynthia and Archie was trying to protect her by framing Flynn. A good spy/domestic drama but it took way too long to get there.

[Veerle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very fascinating book, this. Kate Atkinson's Our Noble Lives is set against the backdrop of the 1951 Festival of Britain, a real event that I initially assumed was one of her inventions. Instead, it proves to be the novel's perfect metaphor. The Festival was Britain's attempt to present itself as a modern, optimistic nation after the devastation of the Second World War. Britain was trying to reinvent itself after the war had left it scarred. Harry Flynn, the novel's protagonist, is engaged in much the same project on a personal level.

Harry is trying to rebuild his life after working as a war correspondent. Like Britain itself, he has been irrevocably transformed by the war. Throughout the novel, Atkinson turns Harry into a mirror of post-war Britain: both carry visible and invisible scars, both struggle to move forward, and both discover that rebuilding does not mean returning to what once was. It means inventing a new identity while learning to live with loss.

What impressed me most was Atkinson's understated style. Harry's grief is rarely expressed in dramatic scenes. Instead, it floats in and out in seemingly insignificant observations. His dead brother remains present not through grand declarations of sorrow, but through the thought that he would never have wanted a stuffed rabbit in his room, a prop Harry is using for the Festival. Those tiny details reveal more about love and absence than pages of explicit introspection ever could.

The Festival itself is brought to life with the same understated precision. I loved the authentic touches: suppliers' names for historical props, exhibition plans, diagrams and maps that capture the post-war faith in science, technology and progress. As someone who regularly visits London, I particularly enjoyed seeing familiar places through new eyes. The South Bank, where I've attended concerts at the Royal Festival Hall, suddenly became more than a cultural venue—it emerged as one of the lasting legacies of the Festival of Britain and a monument to post-war optimism.

Although the novel is fundamentally historical fiction, Atkinson has great fun borrowing from detective fiction. A missing woman, a bloodstained scarf, suspicious behaviour, MI5 agents, former SOE operatives, hidden pasts and shifting identities gradually accumulate into a mystery worthy of Agatha Christie. At one point, Harry's stepdaughter is even reading Christie herself—a delightful wink to the reader that Atkinson knows exactly which genre she's playing with. The eventual solution arrives in classic Christie fashion: the culprit turns out to be someone you never seriously suspected. Yet the mystery never overwhelms the novel's larger concerns. Instead, it reinforces one of Atkinson's central ideas: in post-war Britain, almost everyone is hiding something.

That, ultimately, is what Our Noble Lives is about. The detective plot is not simply a puzzle to solve but another reflection of a society learning to live with secrets, trauma and reinvention. Just as the Festival of Britain offered the nation a carefully curated story about its future, many of the characters are quietly rewriting their own pasts.

As always with Kate Atkinson, relatively little happens on the surface for the greater part of the novel. Much of the novel consists of conversations, walks, memories and apparently trivial observations. Yet beneath that understated style lies a rich exploration of grief, identity and the stories—personal and national—we tell ourselves in order to carry on.

It is a quietly rewarding novel that works as historical fiction, psychological portrait and detective story all at once, while never losing sight of the ordinary lives that history leaves behind. Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for the ARC! I really really enjoyed it!

[Lady Fancifull · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indubitably a glorious and outlandish collation

Kate Atkinson has always been a joyous, lip-smacking ingester of language, as though words were the tastiest and most sustaining of morsels. And so it is here, in this dizzying, twisty-turny extravaganza of many things, set around and within the post-war horrors of PTSD experienced by surviving military veterans of the second world war, and the preparations for the 1951 Festival of Britain.

A group of these damaged ones, managing as best as they can, are colleagues in the organisation overseeing the Festival, design to lift the spirits of a population still feeling the effects of war on the home front. Central is Harry Flynn, ex journalist, and survivor of the conflict in the Far East, and its camps. Flynn, as he is known to all is a tender soul, deeply despairing, strangely attractive to women, possibly because he is, despite everything, without malice or harmful intent, even though he did walk out of a bad marriage, undertaken after the war was over, with Ivy, a forceful woman with her own agenda for making a marriage which was never going to benefit either of them. Flynn left behind not only Ivy, but his stepdaughter teenage Veronica, who appeared to disapprove of Flynn as much as her mother did, and her scruffy dog, Mrs Betty, the only one Flynn really regrets leaving.

The first half of the book is a slow weaving of a huge cast of eccentric characters involved in the Festival. And is wonderfully detailed, absorbing and sparkling with Atkinson’s delectable, seemingly effortless and precise humour. However…………..what, once the scene is properly set, ratchets up the page-turn is that the random disappearance of a stroppy and unpleasant Frenchwoman, Delphine Dubois, leads to a suspicion that she has been murdered, and the Flynn is the murderer, as he appears to be the last person to have seen her alive, and various other pieces of evidence, whether witnesses or material, point to him. The reader knows from the off that Flynn is not the culprit.

Veronica and Mrs Betty re-appear, and in their own, ridiculous and wonderfully Atkinsonesque way, turn out to be a marvellous and quirky solver of crimes. Both Veronica, and an equally wonderful, intelligent but linguistically challenged office boy ‘Boy’ become the clever and seamless way in which Atkinson’s playfulness with language can take wings and fly.

I have, hopefully, whetted some appetites here, whilst avoiding all spoilers. Having read, fairly recently, several books by writers who reminded me (to their detriment) of Atkinson, because they appeared, in their cases, effortfully to be trying to do what she does as if it were as simple as breathing, I ended up reading those authors with a sense of deeply missing Atkinson. Being offered this book by her, I have fallen on it like a woman fed a diet of porridge, who had been dreaming of a cornucopia of fresh and tasty fare, put together by a chef who understands flavours, piquancy, and how food should delight as well as nourish.

These gustatory overloads of this review are not out of place. Much is made, within this story, of the making of a cake, and also, as at the time this book is set, rationing was still in force, there is an understandable yearning for lashings of all things rich and tasty!

My only sorrow (boo!) is that the book had to end. Hint to readers, there are line drawings at the start of each chapter which show the way to walk round the exhibition’s various themes and rooms. Don’t ignore them, their subject matter and their relationship to chapter titles!

[Ceecee · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s 1951 and the British government wants to put the dark days behind us and focus attention on the Festival of Britain. It’s a celebration of creativity as well as grit and determination. For war correspondent and POW Harry Flynn, it might just be the focus he needs to re-find what he lost in the Far East and so he joins an oddball bunch aiming to launch the Festival. It is indeed just the ticket, a harbour and a tonic for him and it helps restore some humour as well as camaraderie. He even attempts a date, albeit somewhat reluctantly, with Delphine Dubois and her subsequent disappearance suggests he may have been the last person to see her alive. Is he involved in someway? His problems mount but maybe these can be resolved thanks to Veronica, a very resourceful 13-year-old and her constant companion, a terrier called Mrs Betty.

I’ve read everything Kate Atkinson has written as she’s a truly fabulous writer and she’s come up yet again with a novel which is sure to be a best seller. There’s the usual trademark lively writing with humorous asides against the backdrop of the potential exhibits at the Festival – some weird, some eccentric, some whimsical, some futuristic and so on. The sense of time and place is terrific, the post war atmosphere of a country desperate to recover with the Festival of Britain symbolising that.

As for the plot, it’s a very entertaining blend of a mystery thriller, combined with an actual historical event, extraordinarily colourful characters, all delivered with the optimistic tone set by the Festival and a great deal of wit, especially in the dialogue. This is how we learn the origin of the title. Cheers. The author strikes a perfect balance between all the elements.

The characterisation is outstanding, especially of Harry and all those he works with, and those he meets along the way throughout the pre-festival months. Some are hilarious such as Veronica whose hollow legs and capacity for food is quite admirable, and Terrence, the office boy, and of course Mitzi Blinkhorn, a thinly disguised Fanny Craddock. Other characters have motives that are slightly more nefarious or secretive but they are all colourfully depicted.

The plot is busy but always clear as all the different strands meld together. I’m glad Harry‘s story in the Far East is only referred to peripherally, it’s there but not overdramatised. It’s perfectly in keeping with most World War II survivors and of course, the spirit of the festival. It’s a shame the festival buildings are removed bar the Festival Hall as there had been a great monument and sign post for the future.

Overall, I love everything about this book and was highly entertained from beginning to end. It also enables me to learn more about the Festival of Britain as that is so well researched. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House U.K. Transworld for the much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.

[Denis Wheller · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s 1951and Harry Flynn, ex journalist, ex Japanese POW, is now collator of artifacts for the Festival of Britain, a murder suspect and a target. Quite a mixture, but then its not long after WWII and Britain was full of people with colourful backgrounds. Take, for example, the other people in Harry’s office: Evans, survivor of a torpedoed ship on the Arctic convoys, Badger, dismissed civil servant, Denholm, ‘resting’ actor, Terrence – known as The Boy – illiterate gopher, and Maud, a soi-disant ‘maiden aunt’ sort of administrator (but with hidden depths). Between them, this team must organise The Festival of Britain, designed by the powers-that-be as a way to brighten the lives of the post war population and introduce them to the wonders of the future world. Along the way, we also encounter a cast of other colourful characters, notably: Mitzi, Britain’s most famous – but basically useless – TV cook, her husband Archie – known as The Major but actually a cashiered Captain – Lydia, beautiful, glamorous, posh, SIS agent, and Veronica, Harry’s barely teenage stepdaughter, with a wisdom beyond her years, an acerbic wit, and a glorious joie-de-vivre. Not to mention, Delphine Dubois, a mysterious French woman who invited Harry for a drink, then did a runner, disappeared and is assumed to be dead and probably murdered – by Harry!
This is a murder-mystery/spy thriller, at the extremely eccentric end of those spectra. It is also quite light-hearted in many ways, but with an undertow of post-war, stiff upper lip British phlegm. The characters are all well drawn and believable, with a standout performance by Veronica who deserves a further book of her own (dragging Flynn along in her wake). Kate Atkinson is justly feted for being an accomplished exponent of the English language, faultlessly flitting through common and rarer words and phrases without obvious contrivance; a joy to read. Here the first half is largely scene and character setting, bringing the (deeply researched) Festival to life through language and the second half starts to pull the various strands together through cunning planning. And of course, as Veronica points out, there’s always a twist, in fact many twists, as the resolution powers its way to the dénouement . I could be picky, but I’d never get below 4.5, so 5 stars is clear.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

[Jessica Gilmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is one author guaranteed to give me a book hangover and that is Kate Atkinson. Every time I finish a new book (always binged, there is no restraint, no eeking out the pages) I get hit with a melancholy that it's over, that I have to leave the characters behind, sure that no book I read in the next few months will measure up. What is it about Atkinson? The superbly sharp characterisation? The dry, dark wit? The unexpectedness of the plotting, often racheted up to almost unbearable tenseness? The way she evokes time and place? The point perfect writing? Tick all of the above. She never descends to sentimentality and yet her books can be devastatingly sad if often, in the end, hopeful. I usually cry at least once.
So, as the tik tokers say, I was today old when I realised that the Royal Festival Hall on Southbank, a brutalist building I have walked past many times was, and you may be as surprised as me, built for a Royal Festival! If only there was some kind of clue in the name. A festival held in the early fifties to celebrate all that was Good About Britain in the dreary, still-rationed early 50s Britain. This is the setting for Our Noble Selves. Working at the festival is Harry Flynn, just about functioning probable alcoholic. irresistable to women for reasons he cannot fathom. survivor of the Burmese Railways. He shares an office with several other men, all with their own war scars buried surface deep, working against the clock as the opening date ticks nearer, heading back to his one room flat every night to drink whisky and try to forget the past. But when an evening out he doesn't even want to go on ends with a blackout and a black eye for Harry and the disappearance of his French date things turn very dark. The police and some colleagues seem to think he killed her despite the lack of body and Harry knows he is being set up. he just doesn't know by who or why but he didn't survive starvation and brutality to go down without a fight.
This is Atkinson at her best, unreliable and shady and twisty, superb sense of time and place leaving me feeling like I had set foot in the Festival, peopled with real, unforgettable, startling original characters. What she did superbly was convey the utter horror of Harry's past without it ever veering into exploitation with just a few never to be forgotten horrific details. A masterclass. Read it.

[Rachel N · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new Kate Atkinson novel is always a cause for celebration. Much as I love the Jackson Brodie series, her standalone books are exceptional and I’ve particularly enjoyed those set around World War II (Life after Life, A God in Ruins, Transcription). Our Noble Selves is set slightly later, centred around the Festival of Britain in 1951, but the aftereffects of the war are very much in evidence.

Harry Flynn, returned from several years as a prisoner of war in the Far East, has struggled to return to work as a journalist and is instead part of a team trying to ensure the Festival is ready for launch despite the lack of time or money. An ill-fated date ends in disaster for Harry when the woman disappears and he is suspected to be the last person to see her alive, leading him into a much deeper plot and the need for help from a precocious thirteen year old girl, Veronica.

It’s an eclectic cast of characters and the usual wonderful mix of laughs (especially Veronica and ‘the boy’, the young dogsbody in the office who seems to know everything and everyone) and the occasional glimpse of all that the adults have suffered through their wartime experiences. The atmosphere in London, bomb damaged, still rationed, struggling to recover, and the aim of the Festival to try and lift spirits and give a glimpse of the future is beautifully done. Many of the quirkiest items to be suggested are taken from historical records and Atkinson does a great job of representing the Festival and its aims with humour but not mockery.

The plot is well devised and keeps you guessing but it’s the characters and the atmosphere which are always the highlights of Atkinson’s novels and this one is no different. Her books always manage to bring people, places and times to life and, as always, I raced through this one. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The setting of Our Noble Selves is the organisation of The Festival of Britain, a four month event which was held in London in 1951 to bring a dowdy post-war Britain out of the doldrums by highlighting British achievements in science, arts, technology and industrial design.

The Festival of Britain staff are depicted as a series of idiosyncratic characters. The main character Flynn is struggling to regain his pre-war confidence and sang froid. Briefly married after the war he soon realised that it was a mistake, so one day walked out of the marital home leaving his wife and young step-daughter. He was previously a journalist but has not settled into a steady career since coming home from incarceration in the East. Despite all this trauma his appeal to women is strong, he seems to have no issue at all being propositioned by various women whom are Festival organisers.

However, there is much more to the story, which includes quirky and fascinating real life stories and facts from the Festival, when a French woman with whom Flynn was having a drink the previous evening goes missing. She is presumed dead when she fails to turn up at work. The finger of blame is seemingly pointed at Flynn by the police and Festival community. Flynn presumes he is innocent, but even he is not entirely sure as events after a point at the end of the evening are a complete blank. He has awoken in the morning sporting a black eye and many facial bruises …

The story is a caper despite post-war trauma, many shady characters and dodgy dealers. I found it great fun, but I am biased as I have read everything Kate Atkinson writes. I love her sense of humour and knack for highlighting farcical situations. She’s made me want to go to find a London pub to see if plaster doves really are in-situ still and I’ve found myself Googling images and stories from the Festival of Britain 1951.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readers familiar with Kate Atkinson’s novels expect memorable attention to detail, quirky characters, vivid settings and a carefully plotted narrative. ‘Our Noble Selves’ does not disappoint. Set in 1951 and focusing on a disparate group all involved in the organisation of the Festival of Britain, Atkinson reminds us of a country still fantasising about lashing of butter on tea cakes and with a general demeanour of beige and grey.

Harry Flynn, one time journalist and survivor of war in the East hopes to live a quiet life. A failed marriage under his belt, he is surprised when his adopted thirteen year old stepdaughter, Veronica, is foist upon him whilst her mother goes off to the Continent. Hurrah for Veronica. A pragmatist, comedian and quick thinker, she brings Harry unexpected joy. And he needs some joy in his life. For some reason, the police suspect him of the murder of a woman he hardly knows and clues to implicate him keep turning up. Has he become violent whilst under the influence of the many whiskeys with which he self-medicates?

Veronica is partial to murder mysteries and ‘Our Nobles Selves’ mimics this genre in some respects. We are not encouraged to become emotionally involved in this comic novel; the deaths are written more as plot convenience than horror. The hero Harry Flynn attracts women aplenty but goodness knows why. MI5 come and go; the police bungle and good overcomes evil.

Atkinson’s latest novel certainly entertains and it is interesting to learn something of the Festival of Britain. However, it’s the portrayal of the children that stands out for me. Veronica is enterprising, funny and tough, as is her counterpart the Boy. Would love to see them in Sixties London!

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK Transworld Publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

[Sarah Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a huge Atkinson fan and I was delighted to be preapproved on NetGalley galley UK to read this new novel. It went straight to the top of my reading list.
I was reminded quite early on a thing I noticed when I’m reading all of Kate‘s books that she uses some more English words that I recognise but can’t use myself I’m left to checking them in the Kindle dictionary on multiple occasions during reading this book
It’s rather timeless book written perhaps in the style of a 50s novel which follows a group of people who are all working together at the festival of Britain organisation offices in the 1950s we mainly follow Harry Flynn who works in this office. It’s a spy novel really I suppose one of the women that he has been seeing informally disappears and he gets a few accused of murdering her. We meet a whole selection of other characters, some of whom turn out to be spies, there’s a lot of double crossing and daring does going on. I’m not much good at keeping up with stories where there are lots of different characters and I did find myself lost on a few occasions reading this one. It moves along quite speedily and is an enjoyable fast paced read.
I didn’t really find myself loving the main character and felt that the character definition in this novel was not as great as I would’ve liked

I loved several Atkinson‘s previous novels in particular life after life and I’m afraid this one doesn’t quite get the same amount of love from me as that.
I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK in return for an honest review. The book is published in the UK on the 10th of September 2026 by random house UK Transworld publishers
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, StoryGraph, Goodreads, and my book blog bionicSarahSbooks.wordpress.com after publication it will also appear on Amazon and Waterstones

[Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader 2.0 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Atkinson is back with another wry, sparky, tender novel of mid-century Britain, featuring a band of characters who are working on the Festival of Britain, the 1951 event aimed at looking ahead to the country's future, moving on from the painful past.

Harry Flynn went to SIngapore as a war correspondent but ended up as a slave laborer on the Burma Railway. He survived (although he was reported dead) and returns to England wondering what his future will be. He marries and abandons his wife and step daughter, works as a printer, and is scooped up to work with the Festival of Britain. In the office, he's among people who could be described as characters which Harry is not.He's mild, without malice and attractive to women. He considers leaving his wife an act of kindness and has no plan to start another relationship, but he does enjoy the occasional drink with a female colleague. His brief drink with Frenchwoman Delphine is not terribly pleasant and she has to leave early, so imagine his surprise when suddenly his colleagues are calling her his girlfriend and asking if he killed her, since she has not been seen since their drink at the local. The Festival is hurtling toward its Grand Opening--disorganized, crazy ambitious, and hopeful in a very Kate Atkinson- friendly way..

No spoilers, because part of the pleasure of reading Atkinson is to be tickled by the twists and turns and the unlikely heroes and villains. With her sprightly hand with language she presents us a feast of a time when so many needed the joy of something.

Many thanks to Doubleday publishing and NetGalley for a digital review copy of Our Noble Selves. These are my honest opinions. 4.5 stars rounded up.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Take one part Hitchcock, one part Alice in Wonderland, a smidge of Cary Grant and a twist of orange peel, stir and strain through the lense of time, and you’ve got this latest offering from Kat Atkinson. Harry Flynn is a former printer/war correspondent who just happened to be in Burma at the wrong time. Now back in England/Britain he and three additional citizens of the crown, find themselves crammed into a tiny basement office and tasked with assisting the planning of great Festival of Britain 1951. Over a four-month period, Flynn learns that all the rats are not located in the rubble and they are more than likely to walk on two, not four legs.

Packed with a rather large cast of characters, more twists than a pretzel factory, murder, secret security officers, and mild mayhem (after all, this is Britain), the action takes a while to really get aloft, but once it does, it leaves the reader feeling sated over this piece of Anglican history. I was somewhat shocked to learn that the Great Fair was indeed based on fact and that with names altered, more than a few characters actually existed. Delightfully descriptive in its narrative (I loved the mini blueprints of each pavilion and the minutia involved in their construction and furnishing), I did however, find myself in need of a character chart and a good dictionary (thanks to my e-reader); a Yank such as I was unfamiliar with numerous terms (i.e. furbelowed, flaneurs, nippy, recce and doodlebugs, to name a few). But as the Shakespearean phrase (though not actually from Shakespear) goes … “Oh what a tangled web we weave …” this one is a real beaut’.

Thank you to @Netgalley, @doubleday and Kate Atkinson for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. Opinions stated are my own.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free advance review copy of Our Noble Selves by Kate Atkinson from NetGalley, and this is my honest review.

This novel follows Flynn, a former prisoner of war, alongside a cast of mismatched characters who come together to plan and deliver the Festival of Britain in 1951. The idea of the festival as a kind of 'reset moment for the nation' stayed with me.  I loved how the book captured that sense of hope while still acknowledging the weight of what had come before.

There’s a lot going on in this book; murder mysteries, sharp and often funny dialogue, and a wide range of characters, and it works. I found myself  invested in them, particularly Flynn, Terence, and Veronica. Veronica, especially, arrived at just the right moment for me; I had been struggling slightly with the novel, and her wit completely lifted the energy. She and others made me laugh out loud more than once.

What I appreciated most was how the novel doesn’t shy away from the effects of war. Flynn’s experiences are woven in which makes them feel all the more real. At the same time, the planning of the Festival offers a sense of movement forward both personally and collectively.

I also really enjoyed the structure of the book, particularly the pages between chapters showing sketches of the different parts of the festival.   It’s clear Kate Atkinson did a great deal of research, and I learned a lot about the Festival of Britain that I didn’t know before.

This is a book that will appeal to readers who enjoy historical fiction with depth, a touch of mystery, and genuinely witty writing. It’s thoughtful without being heavy and ultimately feels hopeful in a quiet way.

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

The summer of 1951 is approaching and preparations for the Festival of Britain are underway. Harry Flynn, returned prisoner of war, endured a harrowing and deeply traumatic wartime experience on the Burma Railway, one which he is unable to share. Readjusting to life in Britain, he attempts to settle into a conventional family life – wife, daughter, dog and a lawn to mow. An ambition that is realised and rapidly falls short of expectations. He now lives alone, makes his way to the Festival Office each day to further arrangements for the Festival and receives an inexplicably frequent number of offers to go on dates.

Based on the author’s notes at the end of the book, the historical information presented about the Festival’s exhibitions and displays seems very well-researched. The Festival’s purpose - to inspire optimism and hope for the future – is presented in stark juxtaposition to Flynn’s uninspiring experience of its organisation which, for him, begins with sifting through thousands of underwhelming entries for a Festival poetry anthology.

While the narrative is reflective of Kate Atkinson’s writing style and rich vocabulary, I felt that the story took a long time to get going. The interweaving narrative about a French woman who goes missing – last seen with Harry Flynn – doesn’t gain momentum until the second half of the book. Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres and while I didn’t feel able to connect with this narrative, there is plenty of interest for those who would like to learn more about the Festival of Britain.

Thank you to Doubleday and NetGalley for sharing an eARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harry Flynn is still adjusting. A former war correspondent haunted by the horrors he endured, he finds himself in 1951 helping coordinate the Festival of Britain alongside a delightfully ragtag group of colleagues. The shadows of postwar Britain linger everywhere, and before long Flynn is entangled in espionage, homegrown facism, blackmail, and even murder. As if that weren’t enough, his ex-wife leaves their thirteen-year-old daughter in his care while she runs off with another man.

Kate Atkinson is a master. Each of her novels has its own distinct voice, and Our Noble Selves is an atmospheric portrait of post-Blitz Britain, as much a study of place and people as it is a mystery. The storytelling is intentionally murky, with the mystery unfolding in fits and starts so that readers experience the same uncertainty and unease as Harry himself. Rather than feeling frustrating, the shifting narrative places you squarely inside his anxious, unsettled state of mind.

As remarkable as the setting is, the characters are what truly make this novel. Atkinson has created eccentric, fully realized people, and watching this mismatched group come together to stage a patriotic celebration of Britain is by turns funny, touching, and quietly profound. The prose is, as always, exceptional: elegant, slightly detached, and filled with the dry wit that makes Harry’s inner life so compelling.

I loved this book. It swept me along far more quickly than I expected, and reminded me once again why I’ll always pick up a Kate Atkinson novel.

[Jen Burrows · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate Atkinson is one of those authors I always approach with equal measures of excitement and apprehension; I know I'm going to enjoy whatever she's written, but my expectations are sky-high. Thankfully, Our Noble Selves is another thoroughly entertaining outing, full of her trademark wit, playful storytelling and sparkling prose.

Setting the novel against the backdrop of the Festival of Britain is an inspired choice. Atkinson captures the optimism, eccentricity and contradictions of post-war Britain with enormous warmth and humour, weaving in details drawn from the historical record that make the setting feel vividly authentic. But beneath all the fun, she also leaves room for quieter, more poignant moments as memories of the war continue to shape the lives of her characters, adding a bittersweet emotional depth.

It does feel a bit as if Atkinson has recycled a few of her favourite character archetypes in drawing this cast; Harry Flynn, in particular, felt like a composite of several Atkinson protagonists who have come before him. It didn't dim my enjoyment, but it did leave the story feeling a little less fresh than some of her earlier work.

Even so, this is a hugely enjoyable, gloriously witty romp that showcases everything I love about Atkinson's writing. Few authors balance comedy, history and humanity with such effortless flair, and I raced through it with a smile on my face.

[Penelope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another storytelling triumph from Kate Atkinson, this time set in 1951, following Harry Flynn, a former POW still finding his way in the ‘real’ world after wartime experiences that would leave many broken and lost.

“From afar, Flynn had developed a certain affinity with the Lion and the Unicorn. He was, he felt, himself a figure of straw, insubstantial and unenduring”

Flynn finds himself as part of a team planning, overseeing, and stocktaking the Festival of Britain, alongside a cast of eccentric, engaging, and highly entertaining characters. Throw in a secondary plot involving a murdered French woman, the secret service, undercover fascists, and you have all the elements for this entertaining and informative novel. Tightly plotted, elegantly written, at times wonderfully farcical, this is a story I enjoyed immensely. Huge shout out for the characters of Veronica and ‘The Boy’, every moment they spent on the page was a joy to read, and I would pay good money for a book about the further adventures of these two!
And as the Festival of Britain” was designed to bring lightness, joy and celebration back to the British people we watch as Flynn begins to heal and find his role in the world once more (and certainly not one he ever expected). Highly recommended!

[Chris Scotland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another absolutely joyous tale from the pen of Kate Atkinson. Set in the early 1950s, as the Festival of Britain approaches, and the memories of war are recent, we're introduced to Harry Flynn, whose own wartime experiences he prefers to forget; now, he seems to accidentally fall into office work, planning some of the minutiae of the forthcoming Festival. His colleagues all seem to have been plucked from obscure corners of post-war Britain, from the enthusiastic Terence (the Boy!), to a certain maiden aunt of this Parish.

When not having to obsess about the quantity of artificial doves, Harry seems to frequently find himself an object of desire, much to his bewilderment; but after the most exotic date in the diary, with the less than enigmatic Delphine, Things Start to Happen and poor Harry seems endlessly trapped between frequent police visits and, oh yes, the precocious stepdaughter Veronica who is an absolute ...delight? (Seriously, I adored her and she needs her own novel).

So yes, there's no doubt that there are some shocking goings-on (was it murder? Kidnap?), but this has more frivolity than Shrines of Gaiety; yet somehow, despite the lighthearted moments, there's often pause for thought. This was very much a one-sitting read for me, but I managed to savour it over two days, instead. Wonderful.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to rate this. I didn't realize it was a mystery when I started it, and I'm just not a mystery person. And then, it's Kate Atkinson, so the writing is graceful, the main characters are well developed, and it's funny, the kind of funny I most like, which comes from knowing those good characters she's created.

There were a lot of characters, though, and I had trouble keeping them straight, and with mysteries, I feel like the fun for people who like them is to keep track of clues and figure it out, which I have no interest in.

Harry Flynn was a prisoner of war at a brutal and violent forced labor camp in Burma during WWII. He survives-- mostly-- and is back in London, very much at loose ends and disconnected from other people, when he gets hired to be part of The Festival of Britain. This was a true, historical festival, a huge one, meant to perk up the British people after the war. It perks up Flynn. But then a woman he went on a bad date with disappears and he's a murder suspect.

I wasn't fully engaged with this until I was more than halfway through, when Flynn's stepdaughter shows up. She's one hell of a character. I also quite enjoyed a character known mostly as The Boy, an office boy who gets the tea and does all kinds of jobs. These two young characters were delightful. Still. This was kind of meh.

Thanks to Edelweiss Plus for the ARC.

[Jill Thomson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in 1951 the government, keen to leave the dark days of the war behind, decide to hold a ‘Festival of Britain’ that showcases the best of British.
Harry Flynn, who had inadvertently ended up as a POW in the Far East, is offered a job helping get the Festival ready for opening. Unfortunately his luck takes another downturn when a date mysteriously disappears and he becomes under suspicion as the last person to see her.
Throughout the course of the book we get to know a selection of fascinating & amusing characters (including some who are definitely not who they’re pretending to be) & while it gets a little confusing at times all becomes clear by the end.
I particularly loved the portrayal of Veronica, Flynn’s 13 yr old stepdaughter, who is bluntly honest & much more practical than him.
‘Our Noble Selves’ is more lighthearted than some of the author’s previous books, the war experiences of the main characters are alluded to rather than gone into in depth.
Overall it’s an enjoyable, informative & at times laugh aloud funny read.
The author’s note at the end regarding the organisation of the Festival is fascinating and shows the enormous amount of research she must have undertaken in order to write about it in such detail.

Many thanks to NetGalley & Transworld for the ARC

[Wendy Greenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is, at heart, a rolicking good yarn peopled with eccentricities of every variety

It is 1951, our main protagonist Harry Flynn like much of the population is recovering from "his" war in which he was a POW in Burma, a journalist convinced Singapore would not fall to the Japanese, yet caught up in events. After testing his mettle by working with a printer, he finds himself employed to compile public poetry for the Festival of Britain.

Straightforward plotting is then thrown in the air as he unassumingly becomes involved with the police, the secret service, the fallout of French resistance activity and Mosley's fascists. At a breakneck speed the characters pop up, disappear, shapeshift...and nothing is as it seems. Mixed with the huge ideas for the Festival which need endless committees to confirm anything, a sense of both farce and menace entwine.

Atkinson writes and plots so cleverly that it kept me engaged and page turning. I found the denouement over-long and complex but this did not detract from my enjoyment of being in post-war London with such a fine cast of characters!

With thanks to #NetGalley and #RandomHouseUK for the opportunity to read and review

[Chris Chanona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel. I do like Kate Atkinson's work and have read all of her novels so that is not a surprise.

The story centres around the Festival of Britain in 1951. The exhibits for the Festival are being curated by an office team of well-drawn characters of whom, Harry Flynn is the main interest. I liked him. Not long back from Burma where he has been a prisoner of war forced to work on The Railway he is still coming to terms with the aftermath. Formerly a journalist he is taking jobs which require little effort until he is offered a position choosing poems for the Festival poetry collection.

No spoilers but the story moves quickly, involves spies, and showcases the peculiarities of depicting 'Britishness'. I was moved to look up what was featured at the Festival and the novel did not exaggerate.

As an older reader I recognised one appalling character and on whom she was based immediately. Kate Atkinson reveals all in the Afterword. I looked up the real life person and she was even more outrageous!

I think Atkinson has read Virginia Woolf, especially Between the Acts (1941) about a village staging a history pageant (recommended).

I recommend this novel as easy to read and very enjoyable. I received a copy from Netgalley and the publishers. Thanks.

[Jill Westerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flynn has returned to London after spending much of the war as a Japanese prisoner of war building the Burma railway. This despite him never actually having been a soldier but being captured while working as a war correspondent. His experiences there are only referred to briefly but form a background to his current situation having rather drifted into a job working to organise the Festival of Britain.

As you would expect from Kate Atkinson what follows is well-researched with a real feel of the period and is hilarious, with a cast of mismatched characters including two engaging street-wise youngsters who attach themselves to Flynn and a Fanny Cradock style cooking 'expert' who can't cook at all. There is also a mystery as Flynn appears to be being set up in the disappearance of a woman after he spent an evening with her.

For me these two elements - the story of how the festival was put together and the mystery element didn't quite mesh, but I can overlook that as it was so amusing and with great well-drawn characters.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a review copy.

[Rita Egan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read most of Kate Atkinson's novels, and I find her hugely amusing and brilliantly observant of the tics and quirks of humans and society, but I have come to expect something profound or existential at the core of her ideas. I found that layer missing in her previous offering, "Death at the Sign of the Rook", Jackson Brodie's latest, and sadly I find it missing again in "Our Noble Selves".

I learned a lot about the Festival of Britain which up to now was a hazy concept to me, and I appreciated the sense of place and time and the whole impetus to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, which became our parents' generation entire collective personality, but the "murder mystery" element didn't live up to my admittedly high expectations of this author.

The characters lack interiority, and tip into caricature. Like "Rook", it felt more like a parody, slightly slap stick, as I suppose was the fashion in 1951. It is a pacy read, with a tight structure and a droll, often snarky voice. Like what might happen if you put Bill Bryson and Carry On together.


Publication Date: 10 September 2026

Thanks to Netgalley and RandomHouseUK for providing an eGalley for review purposes.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Festival of Britain in 1951 had rather passed me by. I know about the Festival Hall, and other buildings on the South Bank, but had not thought about their genesis.
After WW2, Britain was in the doldrums, exhausted from the war, and wanting to move forward. The festival, a celebration of all things British, and a plan for the future, was what we needed.
In a subterranean office near the Savoy, a motley group of office workers provide backup to those designing and implementing the various sections of the festival.
They have all served in some way, and are all damaged by their experiences, but eager to move on to this brilliant future. The main protagonist, Flynn had been a Japanese POW, but wanted to get back to “normal”
Against this background, a French girl disappears after going for a drink with Flynn, and he becomes embroiled in an ever more complex mystery involving some Dickensian characters, upper class spies, teenagers, and a dog called Mrs Betty.
I loved the book, and the characters, and the insight into life in that strange time.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for the opportunity to read this book.

[Cherie]

Kate Atkinson is very hit or miss for me. I liked Life After Life but couldn't finish Transcription. Unfortunately, this one was a miss.

Flynn was a POW during WWII. He has come back to London and is recruited to work planning the Festival of Britain, a big expo aimed to highlight the country's revival after the war. There is a whole cast of characters that he works with in the Festival planning office, and they tend to get into all sorts of funny situations. As the book progresses, Flynn goes on a date with a Frenchwoman who he learns only goes out with him to make her (ex)boyfriend jealous. The woman goes missing the next day,

That's where I stopped. I was more than 40% into the novel and it was sooooo slow. I understand that the first part of the book is meant to set up the story line, but I think at nearly half way through, a good bit of the plot should be revealed. There was none of that in this book.

It was a DNF for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for an advanced copy of the novel. It's scheduled to be published on September 15, 2026.