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Books and Cooks Ithaca -- September 2000

Behind the Scenes at the Museum

Our rating: 4.36 cups of tea!
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 Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

Discussion date: Monday, September 25, 2000

Discussion place: Vicky's Place

Menu: British food

From Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 1995
"Spanning generations and both world wars, this British debut leaves no stone unturned in recounting the humorously turbulent family history of Ruby Lennox...With a natural storyteller's flair, Atkinson tumbles forth an array of anecdotes, revealed secrets, and eccentric snippets of love and death that finally build into the splendid chronicle, ghosts and all, of Ruby's life. With a sly, biting humor and honest warmth, a thoroughly enjoyable first novel with the promise of good things to come."

From New York Times Book Review, March 31, 2000
"Kate Atkinson's remarkable first novel [is] a work full of the grimness, grit, and grandeur of Yorkshire life...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 author is at her best and sharpest when juxtaposing the dreary frustrations of daily life with the searing horror of men and women caught up in the careless wreckage of this century's history....Like Yorkshire itself, [this novel] is all sharp edges; it is a caustic and affectionate portrayal of a world in which bleak but nourishing wit is the only safety net."

The Books and Cooks Behind the Scenes at the Museum Informal Reading Guide
(member-generated questions in no particular order)

  • There were a number of absentee mothers in this book (including, to a degree, Bunty). Did you sympathize with these mothers' choices to leave their children in any or all of these cases?

  • Why do you think it was titled "Behind the Scenes at the Museum"?

  • Did it seem like the families in this book had too many sets of twins?

  • Did you anticipate the existence of Pearl?

  • The children in the book, in each generation, seemed most affected by their mother's behavior, not their fathers'. Was this just reflecting a cultural reality, or did the book emphasize that aspect of their childhood?

  • Did the stories about the ancestors (such as Alice, Nell, etc.) add to the understanding of Bunty and Ruby?

  • Did Patricia need to leave the family to "suceed" in life?

  • Is the book more about Ruby or more about Bunty? Or is it balanced?

  • What was your reaction to the structure of the book? Did you read it in page order or skip to read the footnote after its mention?

  • Were the women and girls who "did their own thing" rather than doing the socially expected thing happier, or was happiness more governed by the circumstances they were placed in?

  • Why didn't Patricia tell what happened at the pond?

  • The stag she sees when leaving the farm - what's that about?

This Page Last Revised: November 21, 2000.