Play Book Tag discussion

Behind the Scenes at the Museum was the first novel Kate Atkinson published. It tells the story of Ruby from the moment she is conceived, but it is also littered with footnotes that are chapters unto themselves. These footnotes, one per chapter, tell the stories of Ruby's highly dysfunctional family members. All told the book spans several generations.

'I've come back to dispose of the remains of my mother, a task made more complicated by the fact that she isn't dead yet. 'She's lost her personality,' Adrian whispers as he opens the front door. 'She's nothing like her old self.' Well, surely any change can only be an improvement?'

'The past is a cupboard full of light, and all you have to do is find the key that opens the door.'

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It was easy to see that Life After Life drew a lot of inspiration from Behind the Scenes. There were many similarities, although this indeed was quirkier and contained more black humour.

Suffice to say I will be making my way through all of Kate Atkinson's writing. She has become a firm favourite.

Quirky quotes for sure. That's a wonderful ambition to read them all. I started with the Inspector Brodie series and am working forward and backward from there. Behind the Scenes I can't wait to dig into.

Inspector Brodie is my next stop! I had started A God in Ruins, however I didn't like the narration so I'm going to read the print version instead.

Susie wrote: "Inspector Brodie is my next stop! I had started A God in Ruins, however I didn't like the narration so I'm going to read the print version instead."

So glad you liked Ruby as much as I did. You may be right about not listening to God in Ruins. Even when I listen to Atkinson,I want a print copy. I need to reread those wonderful quirky comments and it helps to flip back and forth to put the pieces together.

She does require a lot of flipping back and forth, doesn't she? It was a bit tricky on my ereader.

Interesting, I've only been focused on Life after Life (read) and A God in Ruins (partway through). I hadn't even looked into the others. I was listening to God as well and wasn't really sure about it. I thought Life was good--with caveats. I definitely like that she tells stories in different and interesting ways. Like we need more historical fiction in WW2 Europe, but hers was interesting.