Behind the Scenes at the Museum

A Novel

By: Kate Atkinson

Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt

A deeply moving family story of happiness and heartbreak, Behind the Scenes at the Museum is best-selling author Kate Atkinson's award-winning literary debut.

National Best seller

Winner of the Whitbread Book of the Year

Ruby Lennox begins narrating her life at the moment of conception, and from there takes us on a whirlwind tour of the 20th century as seen through the eyes of an English girl determined to learn about her family and its secrets.

Kate Atkinson's first novel is "a multigenerational tale of a spectacularly dysfunctional Yorkshire family and one of the funniest works of fiction to come out of Britain in years" (The New York Times Book Review).

©1995 Kate Atkinson (P)2018 Tantor

women rule this family saga

It makes sense that narrator Ruby's scorn for her mother, Bunty starts in the womb because this is a novel about how women run the show through the generations. Though she will never make Mother of the Year, Bunty at least endures her daughter's relentlessly scorn-filled memories with fortitude and at least a little dignity intact. Further, because she is the narrator's connection to her grandmother, aunts, great-aunts, and great-grandmother, her presence provides crucial continuity for this tale of generations of working class women in Yorkshire and one in which men are the bit players--good to start the occasional unwed pregnancy, romance someone away from her life made miserable by another, die prematurely, die in war, die at sea, or, in Bunty's case, to stay until death but make her undone with his philandering. Though she suffers greatly from her daughter's opinion, she is paid the ultimate compliment of becoming the book's most memorable presence.

Hard to figure out who everybody is at first, but worth the trouble

A well written intriguing book, but at times hard to figure out who the characters were from prior chapters. I imagine that reading it, rather than listening, would eliminate most of the initial confusion.Well worth the trouble, and once you get into the flow, really a great read.

Not the best Kate Atkinson

This was the only KA novel I hadn’t yet read so I had to give it a go. I almost stopped several times because the story didn’t seem to go anywhere. You can tell it is her first novel; and it is ambitious for a first novel. Still, it was long and a bit tedious at parts.

Wonderful!

I was delighted to see that Audible had this early book by Kate Atkinson! It shares many of the characteristics of her two great novels, Life after Life and A God in Ruins, namely back-and-forth woven family history involving the World Wars, humour, and dogs. A pretty delightful read.

Quite a Biography

From conception to her mother’s death, Ruby Lennox tells her lifetime story. Amazing writing.
And I love that Pearl Hewitt narrates. Her voice is perfect for Ruby.

Excellent

Never met a Kate Atkinson book I didn't love. This is no exception. Having read and listened to the book, my only question is, can anyone explain the picture on the cover of this Audible edition?

So Creative

Wow such a creative and dynamic reflection on family dysfunction. Really enjoyed the writing. The vocabulary choices gave incredible depth and nuance to the feelings of the characters.
The narrator did a terrific job bringing the story alive and understandable in a multigenerational and nonlinear story. Most importantly (for me) narrator did not overly perform the book.

A bit choppy

This novel darts around in time which makes for considerable confusion in remembering which family members belong to whom. I loved the reflective prose and even got to appreciate the reader’s accent after a while. As with many novels the last chapter was a hurried tying up of loose ends which detracted from the overall novel’s pace.

smart and funny

Quirky, smart and funny. I really enjoyed the story and it's characters were interesting. the narration was fantastic also.

memorable wedding and world cup collision

Reading of this section of the book was hysterical....I wasn't quite vested in the story or series of story lines, but some of the reading moments...this one in particular...were very well executed.