Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson Reviews

I read this book 11 years ago and I still remember it and recommend it to friends - that to me is the best indication of a good book! A friend recommended I read this book and i'll admit I wasn't that enthusiastic originally (I tend to be one of these people that finds an author they like and sticks to it). However, after the first ...  Read the complete review

This is a bit of a peculiar review for me to write. I have given this review 4 stars out of 5, which is, I feel, a pretty good rating. However, for a while I did really struggle with reading this novel, as you can probably tell when I tell you that I started reading it back in September or October, and only just finished it yesterday, at the ...  Read the complete review

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 ...  Read the complete review

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 ...  Read the complete review

“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 ...  Read the complete review

In 1995 York born author Kate Atkinsons first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the Whitbread First Novel Award and Whitbread Book of the Year, while 1999 saw Waterstones choose it as one of the 99 greatest novels from the last 99 years. High praise indeed from an industry which is becoming harder for new talent to break into. So just ...  Read the complete review

One of the best things about this book is the thorough nastiness or pathetic-ness (is that a word?) of almost every character. There's something passionate about creating such a load of hateful characters. As for Ruby, the ever-developing, sometimes very young narrator, she's a terribly endearing storyteller, but sometimes too ...  Read the complete review

I would be the first to admit that I am quite a slow reader. However, this book is not particularly long, yet it took me four months to finish it! The book was recommended to me by various friends with respected judgement of books. Given this, I was a little surprised that the book didn't really work for me. My only suggestion for ...  Read the complete review

Kate Atkinsons book Behind the Scenes at the Museum wasn't my idea of essential reading but after i'd finished it didn't seem such a bad idea after all. I was essentially forced to read this book for an English assigmnment and hence made slow progress and found the book very hard to get into but much to my utter amazement after ...  Read the complete review