Book Review: Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

There isn't really a museum but a story of five generations of a middle class dysfunctional family in England.

Ruby Lennox narrates her life beginning at the moment of her conception and details the chronicles thereafter through to the end. Along the way there are footnotes that tell stories/anecdotes about other family members, tracing patterns of tragedy, infidelity, personality traits, and scandals. We learn that everything in this family is connected, and not everything is how it seems to appear.

Ruby narrates her story from a unique perspective, often revealing her chronological age as she relates the events as they occur. This story as many details and interwoven plots through the footnotes that appear at the end of every chapter and it provides an interesting backdrop to understand those around Ruby and why they might behave the way they do.

I didn't really LOVE this book but it was a good read. There were equal parts humor and tragedy and it seemed very plausible. I sometimes found the plot a little disjointed due to all of the sub-stories that took us to different time periods. All in all I recommend.