Catalogue

BACK

Title:	Behind the Scenes at the Museum
Authors:	Atkinson, Kate
Genre:	Fiction
Pages:	382
Year:	1995
Language:	English
Description:	Ruby Lennox was conceived grudgingly by Bunty and born while her father, George, was in Doncaster, telling a woman in an emerald dress and a D-cup that he wasn't married. A witty, startling account of Ruby's family, and the memorable events of her own life. Comments from Groups: Great read. A bittersweet description of English family life. Fernside 001 Intensely written, witty, sad. 50 per cent of group enjoyed reading it and the rest lost interest. Very varied reactions. Auckland 234 Mixed reaction. Most people enjoyed the book but found the 'footnote' scenario made it more difficult to keep track of the characters. Ashburton 003 General consensus was that her later books are more enjoyable but this first book sets her style of writing and she is an accomplished storyteller. Welllington 153 Was a very successful read. All could identify with the historical aspects of the book and felt keen to read more of Atkinson's works. Alexandra 004 All enjoyed the book. Dark humour helped with all the sad parts of the story. Huntly 001 Many of the group identified with things in the 50s section of the book. We did not like the 'footnotes'. Felt that the author was being a bit clever going backward and forward in time. Had a few laughs though. Palmerston North 013
Categories:	Fiction, Award winner, Community, Humour, Relationships, England, Blind Low Vision library

Reviews

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By: WANAK 010		2025-07-04 12:12:12

Overall the group felt the writing was superb. Some of us had difficulty keeping track of where everyone fitted in and found the family tree in the notes very helpful. Mixed views on the footnotes with some finding it disruptive and interfering with the flow, others felt it added to the story.

By: WAIUK 003		2025-05-28 10:22:15

All enjoyed the theme of the book. Cleverly woven story with a twist at the end.

By: GERAL 002		2025-04-07 09:25:38

Kate Atkinson's literary style in this book is magnificent. It was, overall, a delight to read. We loved how she expressed her thoughts, and thoroughly enjoyed the unexpected humour. We found the 'Footnotes' disruptive however, and the number of characters hard to keep track of. Jumping back and forth through time was difficult.

By: PALMN 029		2024-07-15 22:20:27

This group lead to some really interesting discussions, but the views were very mixed. A study in intergenerational trauma and how hard the lives of women over the last 140 years has been. Dark humour and detailed, vivid description kept some of us reading. Some people read the book straight through, others read the book and then read the footnotes, and some didn't read the footnotes at all. So it was a very different reading experience for each of us.

By: AUCK 234		2022-01-26 13:34:04

In general, we all enjoyed this book. As always, with a diverse group, some enjoyed the lighter style of writing, while others enjoyed the sense of time that the author portrayed, while others had some trouble making sense of the footnotes. It's an interesting read and a really good book for a book group.

By: CHCH 231		2022-01-26 13:31:18

All liked the book. Book notes excellent - really enhanced book.

By: KATIK 002		2022-01-26 13:29:24

Those who had read it, loved it....many had read it previously and are huge Kate A. fans.

By: AUCK 300		2022-01-26 13:27:59

This book stirred up lots of discussion ( still going at 11pm!). 1 person "hated" the book, quite a few loved it, and some found it hard to read but enjoyed it.

By: AUCK 171		2022-01-26 13:26:06

Read the notes first. A little confusing with all the characters over several generations, but would probably benefit from a second read. Theme is a bit depressing but not without humour. Prose was lovely.

By: CROMW 004		2022-01-26 13:23:11

The book was enjoyed by everyone. It was well-written but needed the reader's concentration. You needed to keep referring to the family tree to remember some of the connections. We had a really interesting discussion around the questions.

By: WAIKA 010		2022-01-26 13:18:42

9 people - only 3 read and finished this book. Needless to say the other 6 didn't like it at all, and in particular found the plot fragmented, hard to follow, and the footnotes annoying. The 3 who completed it rather enjoyed it. Such diversity!

By: RICH 009		2022-01-26 13:16:31

Most scored this book very highly and it generated lots of discussion.

By: TARARU 001		2022-01-26 13:15:20

Many found the rapid changes between time/generations/family members quite confusing. It would have been helpful to know there was a family tree in the notes before starting the book. We had a very thorough discussion though on changes in family life through the decades, changes to women's roles in the home, the idea of a perfect facade to show the world. Several readers recommended other Kate Atkinson novels to the group.

By: NAP 021		2022-01-26 13:10:54

Well, this book certainly split our group right down the middle! Great lovers of Kate Atkinson confessed to having read all of her books, whereas others of the group could not "get with this book" at all. However, we all agreed that she is a very clever author.

By: ASHB 009		2022-01-26 13:08:32

Everyone who finished the book ( a couple didn't) enjoyed it very much. Was written well, and showed humour in otherwise not so humorous situations. One or two felt the footnotes were a tad long as far as footnotes usually go, but otherwise a great read to end the year on.

Catalogue

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Reviews