Behind the Scenes at the Museum cover art

Behind the Scenes at the Museum

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Behind the Scenes at the Museum

By: Kate Atkinson
Narrated by: Susan Jameson
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Ruby Lennox was conceived grudgingly by Bunty and born while her father, George, was in the Dog and Hare in Doncaster, telling a woman in an emerald dress and a D cup that he wasn't married. Bunty had never wanted to marry George, but there she was, stuck in a flat above the pet shop in an ancient street beneath York Minster, with sensible and sardonic Patrica, aged five; greedy, cross-patch Gillian, who refused to be ignored; and Ruby...

Ruby tells the story of the family, from the day at the end of the nineteenth century when a travelling French photographer catches frail beautiful Alice and her children, like flowers in amber, to the startling, witty, and memorable events of Ruby's own life.

©1995 Kate Atkinson (P)2014 AudioGo Ltd. Published by Random House Audiobooks
Contemporary Fiction Witty Funny Heartfelt Tear-jerking Feel-Good
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Before You Know Kindness cover art
Hidden Secrets cover art
The House by the River cover art
Across the Winding River cover art
The Long Gaze Back cover art
The Secret Letter cover art
East of the Sun cover art
The Things We Cannot Say cover art
The Venice Sketchbook cover art
The Lost Girls of Devon cover art
The Sewing Machine cover art
The Victory Garden cover art
War Brides cover art
What the Wind Knows cover art

What listeners say about Behind the Scenes at the Museum

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    372
  • 4 Stars
    116
  • 3 Stars
    36
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    392
  • 4 Stars
    80
  • 3 Stars
    15
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    340
  • 4 Stars
    106
  • 3 Stars
    35
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    9

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

hits the heart

I studied this at A-Level and it will always be one of my favourite books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

It’s hard to believe that this is Kate Atkinson’s debut novel. I was completely captivated from start to finish. I haven’t read her books in order, in fact this is the sixth and there isn’t one that I wouldn’t read again. The depth of her characters, her detailed observations, her ability to understand human nature in all it’s shades, dark and tragic, witty and wonderfully humorous. Kate Atkinson has an interest in WWI and WWII and is very knowledgeable on the subjects, I feel I’ve had the most interesting of history lessons too! Now looking forward to listening to Human Croquet and delighted Susan Jameson is narrating as she did a great job with Behind the Scenes at the Museum!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

amazing

This is an unusual concept, fascinating, moving, complex, simple. A real joy, couldn't stop listening.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Brilliant narration to match the epic story

Having read this years ago, I’d forgotten how brilliant it was. Kate Atkinson’s writing is sublime and her characters so perfectly captured, they become as familiar as your own family. Funny, poignant, superbly read (all kinds of accents and none annoying)… from the first chapter, I dreaded it ending

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

the characters

a wonderful tapestry of characters, no plot, just life.my 2nd favourite Kate Atkinson, if you love a character novel the life story of Bunty is for you.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Superb

Everything about this novel is superb - from the characters, to the plot, to the narration. It is just an absolute joy and a wonderful way to lose yourself for hour after hour. It must be a couple of years since I last listened to this, and I have enjoyed it even more second time around. Kate Atkinson is a truly wonderful writer and Susan Jameson the perfect narrator.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Many lives

I thoroughly enjoyed a previous Kate Atkinson book and expected this to be as ‘interesting’. I wasn’t wrong. Susan Jamieson was the perfect reader, bringing the many characters to life so I felt I really knew them. The story starts with Ruby’s conception and follows her life and that of her family present and past until she reaches mid life. All the events are those that could be from any family but the book is so brilliantly written that everything has colour and drama. The book is funny, sad, dramatic and believable. Loved it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

What a writer!

Loved it, everything about it. Kate Atkinson is such a tremendous writer and Susan Jameson WordPerfect narrator. Wow!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Intriguing story

Quite different from style of her historical novels. Rather slow paced but there was something that made me keep going. Fairly weak storyline in the end!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Superb!

Absolutely loved this. Incredibly funny and sad in equal measures. An amazing observation of family life ...... well worth a read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful