Comments (15)

What did you think about this title?
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Aug 28, 2023beaver1948 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Kate Atkinson is a superb detailed writer with wit, humour & intrigue. My only negative about this book is that I found it difficult at times to keep track of the many, many characters in Ruby's life - past & present. (George, Bunty,…
Mar 15, 2023mimsipod rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I loved this book so much that I read it twice, back to back. The second reading helped me pick up details I had missed the first time. The plot is complex (but not difficult), with the interwoven lives of the characters, some aspects of…
Oct 21, 2022Tdruid rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
I’m not enjoying this at all and don’t want to plough through the rest of it hoping to find something worth reading. I really don’t appreciate the cheap gimmick of beginning the narrative at the moment of conception. Give me some credit…
Sep 02, 202121221018293347 rated this title 1.5 out of 5 stars
I could not get into this book and stopped after the fourth footnote. It is much too jumbled for me.
Dec 22, 2020
Kate Atkinson's novels featuring detective Jackson Brodie (Case Histories, for example) please me more than this one. The interruption of the story for the many Footnotes chapters gets tiresome. However, the last chapter with planet…
Sep 09, 2020GLNovak rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I just enjoyed this book so much I didn't want it to end. Ruby drew me in right from the day of her conception up to the farewell to her mother. The various members of her immediate and extended family flit in and out of the narrative,…
Jul 13, 2020marybellinger rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Incredible humour! This book covered 4 generations of family life and contained every emotion. Absolutely loved the humour. Struggled a bit with following who was who, which generation were we talking about now, and "footnote" to what. …
Jun 17, 2018uncommonreader rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Set in York, the narrator, born in 1951, tells the story of her family, past and present. It is often funny, and insightful about the relationship between mothers and daughters. Very readable.
Jun 07, 2018
I think that she is a great writer but I agree with a previous comment. I got confused in her chapters that switched back and forth in time although I know that is trendy now. She mentions wars but doesn't state which war she is actually…
Nov 06, 2013BurfordGirl rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I'm currently reading a paperback copy of this book (found at the SPL Book Sale) and am almost unable to put it down. This is my first Kate Atkinson, and I'm thrilled to see that she has written more books--can't wait to read those as…
Sep 14, 2013jaycrossing rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Kate Atchison is an enormously talented writer. I wasn't disappointed in this book but more confused with the way the story keeps digressing between generations and between past and present, which seems to be one of her trademarks but…
Jul 09, 2012hollyheartsYA rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I loved Ruby Lennox's voice, I thought she captured the essence of childhood very well and later adolescence too. The characters in this family are deeply flawed but enjoyable all the same. The alternating chapters break up the narration…
Mallevato
Jan 02, 2012Mallevato rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
Could not get interested in this book, I generally like the author but rated other books by her in a higher category.
Dec 29, 2011DanglingConversations rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
this is an excellent story from start to finish.Well developed plot with respectful hints at the sudden twist presented at the 'happy' ending. A must read
Dec 20, 2011jpkelly rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Behind the Scenes at the Museum is pitch perfect, truly stunning. At once funny (often times excruciatingly so) and dark, family dysfunction colors and warps the Yorkshire world of narrator, Ruby, in subtle and surprising ways. Really -- I…