Behind the Scenes at the Museum was Yorkshire mother of two, Kate Atkinson's first novel and this wonderful book it is definitely one to be celebrated.
Kate Atkinson was born in York and she chose the old walled City as the location for the tale of teenage Ruby Lennox and her family. The ... Read review
STOCKED 1/8/06 Ruby Lennox was conceived grudgingly by Bunty and born while her father, ... more
George, was in the Dog and Hare in Doncaster telling a woman in an emerald dress and a D-cup that he wasn't married. Bunty had bever wanted to marry George but he w...
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STOCKED 1/8/06 Ruby Lennox was conceived grudgingly by Bunty and born while her father, ... more
George, was in the Dog and Hare in Doncaster telling a woman in an emerald dress and a D-cup that he wasn't married. Bunty had bever wanted to marry George but he was all that was left. She really wanted to be Vivien Leigh or Celia Johnson, swept off to America by a romantic hero. But here she was, stuck in a flat above the pet shop in an ancient street beneath York Minster, with sensible and sardonic Patricia aged five, greedy cross-patch Gillian who refused to be ignored, and Ruby...
Postage & Packaging:refer to website Availability:in stock
Ruby Lennox was conceived grudgingly by Bunty and born while her father George was in ... more
the Dog and Hare in Doncaster telling a woman in an emerald dress and a D-cup that he wasn't married. Bunty had never wanted to marry George but he was all that was left. She really wanted to be Vivien Leigh or Celia Johnson swept off to America by a romantic hero. But here she was stuck in a flat above the pet shop in an ancient street beneath York Minster with sensible and sardonic Patrica aged five greedy cross-patch Gillian who refused to be ignored and Ruby...Ruby tells the story of the family from the day at the end of the nineteenth century when a travelling French photographer catches frail beautiful Alice and her children like flowers in amber to the startling witty and memorable events of Ruby's own life. "Behind The Scenes At The Museum" is a multi-faceted richly comic richly tragic tour-de-force an epic family chronicle that introduces a wonderfully original narrative voice.
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29.3.07 The British Museum is home to a remarkable collection of treasures from around the ... more
world, gathered under one roof. Looking after these collections are some 800 staff who maintain the galleries, restore precious objects, plan blockbuster shows, and manage a flow of 4.5 million visitors a year. This book shows what makes this amazing place work.
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Advantages: A wonderful British book. Disadvantages: None at all!
Behind the Scenes at the Museum was Yorkshire mother of two, Kate Atkinson's first novel and this wonderful book it is definitely one to be celebrated.
Kate Atkinson was born in York and she chose the old walled City as the location for the tale of teenage Ruby Lennox and her family. The book starts from the moment of Ruby's conception in 1951, a moment grudgingly obliged by her mother, Bunty. Ruby starts the tale as a growing foetus, ... .../>
Atkinson divides Behind the Scenes at the Museum into Chapters and Footnotes: the Chapters focus on Ruby and her direct family life with her mother and father and her sisters. The Footnotes tie up unexplained information mentioned within the chapters, exploring the history of her family over the previous two generations further, starting with Ruby's great-grandmother Alice, who supposedly died giving birth. Although I liked the footnotes ... more
Behind the Scenes at the Museum was Yorkshire mother of two, Kate Atkinson's first novel and this wonderful book it is definitely one to be celebrated.
Kate Atkinson was born in York and she chose the old walled City as the location for the tale of teenage Ruby Lennox and her family. The book starts from the moment of Ruby's conception in 1951, a moment grudgingly obliged by her mother, Bunty. Ruby starts the tale as a growing foetus, a baby inside her mother's womb. Boy, it sure did start to get uncomfortable in there after nine months, there sure wasn't a lot of room. Ruby was pushed into the world while her father George was in the Dog and Hare in Doncaster telling a women wearing a D-cup that he wasn't married.
Ruby tells the story of her family exploring complex family relationships, births, weddings, divorce, death, secrets and lies. She spends her childhood trying to placate her mother and playing with elder sister's Gillian and Patrica, under the shadow of the Minister, as they trundle along the old pebble-stone streets and in and out of the pet shop, the family business.
When she is just 5 Ruby is whisked away to stay with her Auntie Babs. She has no idea why, although she's sure that it's not a holiday. She has nightmares and begins to sleepwalk. When she returns no explanation is offered and her mother seems even more unhappy….
Atkinson divides Behind the Scenes at the Museum into Chapters and Footnotes: the Chapters focus on Ruby and her direct family life with her mother and father and her sisters. The Footnotes tie up unexplained information mentioned within the chapters, exploring the history of her family over the previous two generations further, starting with Ruby's great-grandmother Alice, who supposedly died giving birth. Although I liked the footnotes as a unique style of writing, they can cause the reader to lose the thread of the story somewhat, particularly if you are reading slowly.
The book is fluently written and poetic throughout. It is imaginative, thought provoking, hearth warming and funny. A lovely example of the poetic style of the story comes from Ruby's theory of the afterlife. She believes there must be a Lost Property Cupboard where all things we have ever lost have been kept for us - every button, every tooth, every lost library book and spare pen. Lost tempers and patience and innocence and the dreams we forget on waking…. A beautiful analogy.
As for the ending, it is unexpected and shocking, cleverly tying together previous events, fitting together the pieces of the puzzle.
I loved this book and I give it five stars. It is likely to be preferred by the ladies than the gents, although it is suitable for any ages. At 380 pages the book is a nice length, not too long but allowing time for the reader to get to know the characters and to understand Ruby's situation. It is a very British book, exploring life in the middle classes and if you are British, especially if you live in York, or the North, you simply must read it.
Behind the Scenes at the Museum was published in 1995 and it subsequently won the Whitbread prize for book of the year The novel also appears on the 2003 BBC Big Read at number 142. Kate Atkinson has gone on to write a number of other novels including Human Croquet (1995) Abandonment (2001), Not the End of the World (2004) Case Histories (2005) and Emotionally Weird. (2001). I have not yet had the pleasure of reading any of her subsequent works but I certainly plan to.
Poor Ruby. Does anyone ever say that? No they don't. But they should and by the end of this book you will agree….
Publisher: Picador (November 12, 1999) ISBN: 0312150601 Retailed at £6.99.
nickyturnill 24.01.2006 (24.01.2006)
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Review of Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson
Advantages: Excellent novel, great holiday reading Disadvantages: The front cover
I think you only realise the true power of books when you read one that has such an effect on you that you feel like a part of you is missing when you finally finish it. Not ‘unputdownable’ as such (I hate that word but I’m at a loss for a better one so it will have to do) but a book where the characters really mean something to you and you actually care about what happens to them, where when the narrator stops talking you feel disappointed because ... ...the Scenes at the Museum’ by Kate Atkinson was for me one of those books.
(Sorry if you found that intro a bit much – but I am an English student you have to expect it of me occasionally)
‘Behind the Scenes at the Museum’ was on my reading list for last Semester and I have to confess I avoided reading it for two incredibly pathetic reasons – 1. The front cover looked a bit strange and I found it a bit off putting 2. I didn’t like the sound of the ...
lwperkins 28.05.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson
Advantages: A good read Disadvantages: It had to end
“I exist! I am conceived…” thus starts the story of Ruby Lennox in Kate Atkinson’s first novel ‘Behind the Scenes at the Museum’. Kate Atkinson is a York born author who writes about places she knows and interweaves them in this novel. The story of Ruby Lennox is about the life of a young girl from her conception through to adulthood. The start of the story has Ruby in her mother’s womb aware of her mother’s ... ...continues with the life of Ruby and her family as they live above the pet shop run by her family. Some thing happens to Ruby when she is quite young which she can not remember but involved her being shipped off to her aunt’s house for several weeks. This event has a large effect on Ruby’s life. The story is full of relationships in a family. Eventually Ruby has therapy and is able to remember what happened, it is not quite as the family ...
mjbarkley 21.03.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson
Advantages: Writing so powerful it will make you laugh and cry. Disadvantages: Some jokes refering to life in 50s Britian may not be fully understood by all readers.
I read this book for an English Literature course and was left astounded. As well as containing numerous laugh-out-loud moments, the intimate style of Atkinson's writing was so powerful at times that I was moved to tears.
The book follows the life of Ruby, beginning at the moment of her conception and tracking her treacherous journey through to adulthood. Through the use of footnotes, we come to learn about her family's past and the many dramas ... ...the past does not stay in the past, but is very much interwoven with the lives of those living in the present day. Atkinson presents some powerful messages throughout the novel, forcing the reader to think about some important issues. Throughout the book, we witness the suffering of women because of their gender, children because of their families, men because of war, and even animals because of their owners. But this is not to say that the novel ...
Icecream123 05.05.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson
Advantages: Great fictional account of one girls childhood in 1950s England Disadvantages: If you expect standard chick lit fare - beware!
...social history events that works so well. After all, as the title says, Ruby is describing a world that has gone. If her family lived above the pet shop they owned, then in one sense, the story of her life is like being behind the scenes in a museum. ...
aspebbles 10.11.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson
Advantages: Great back drop, serious but injections of humour Disadvantages: None
I read this book several years ago when studying for my English degree and was excited by this novel.
Kate Atkinson uses York as a backdrop for this novel, and living there now, as I do, adds that extra touch to the scene as I can picture streets and areas written about.
I found the book on the whole very serious with the odd injections of humour to lighten the serious mood. Ruby's conception at the beginning of the book is real tickler!
I found ...
Emmie 07.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson
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