A day like any other for security chief Tracy Waterhouse until she makes a shocking impulse purchase. That one moment of madness is all it takes for Tracys humdrum world to be turned upside down the tedium of everyday life replaced by fear & danger at every turn. Witnesses to Tracys outrageous exchange in the Merrion Centre in Leeds are Tilly an elderly actress teetering on the brink of her own disaster & Jackson Brodie who has returned to his home county in search of someone elses roots. All three characters learn that the past is never history & that no good deed goes unpunished. Kate Atkinson dovetails & counterpoints her plots with Dickensian brilliance in a tale peopled with unlikely heroes & villains. Started Early Took My Dog is freighted with wit wisdom & a fierce moral intelligence. It confirms Kate Atkinsons position as one of the great writers of our time.