When Will There Be Good News?

When Will There Be Good News?

by

Kate Atkinson

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When Will There Be Good News?: Safely Gathered In Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
At dawn on Christmas Day, Jackson is on Westminster Bridge, staring into the Thames. He’s holding the plastic bag containing Nathan’s hair, which Reggie had salvaged from his jacket for him. He misses Reggie. He wonders about the strolling woman, too. “Everywhere you looked, there was unfinished business and unanswered questions.” He’d thought everything would come clear when he briefly died after the train crash, but it didn’t. It occurs to him that it’s up to us to solve the mysteries while we’re still alive. So he should “be a crusader.”
In light of his near death, Jackson makes peace with the fact that all of life’s mysteries (like the mysterious woman in the Dales) and heartaches aren’t going to be magically resolved, and rather than lamenting this, he just has to keep trying.
Themes
Trauma, Survival, and Reckoning with the Past Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Jackson thinks about throwing the hair into the river, but he’s lost almost everything else, so he holds onto it. He wonders if he’s too old to make a fresh start. Then he remembers finding Joanna, and he’s instantly cheered. Not finding her at the house outside of Edinburgh, but the first time, when she was a girl. He was only 19 and fresh from the losses of his mother and siblings. When he’d found the little girl alive, he’d lifted her up as though she were a miracle, and the police constable had said, “Look at that, not a scratch on her.”
Though depressed, Jackson is encouraged by the memory of finding the lost Joanna as a little girl. Not only was he among the search party, but he was the one who initially discovered her, unharmed, among the wheat. Of course, in time it proved that while there may not have been an outward scratch on Joanna, the deeper damage had nevertheless been done.
Themes
Trauma, Survival, and Reckoning with the Past Theme Icon
Appearances vs. Reality Theme Icon