HOW IT ALL BEGAN by Penelopy Lively

The construct for this novel is 'the butterfly effect.' An older woman gets mugged; various relationships change in the wake of this. But that's simply an organizing principal for the interwoven stories of nine Londoners, in this particular slice of time. Lively draws her smart, sharp portraits with prose that's both snappy and elegant, funny and tender, with insight into her characters--from the inside and from the outside, and with perfectly controlled story-telling. I loved this book.