Rating: 
Summary: Pure delight
Review: This is the sort of book that keeps you up past your bedtime -- "just one more page..." Kate Atkinson is wonderfully funny and inventive. I picked up "Human Croquet" within days of finishing "Behind the Scenes," and can't wait for her next book.
Rating:
Summary: Pure poetry! Amazing imagery!
Review: I stumbled upon this book quite by accident. It turned out to be one of the best books I've ever read. I can't believe this is Atkinson's first novel. Her way with words is often breath taking. I had to read some parts over again and sometimes out loud, pure poetry!
Rating:
Summary: A truly lovely book
Review: I read this book in one day -- although I knew this was a book I should be slowly savoring. Kate Atkinson weaves a rich tapestry of the various generations of a family -- and the lives they have touched. There are a couple places toward the end that don't hang together as well as the rest of the book. In a book of such complexity and depth, its astonishing this is the only flaw.
Rating:
Summary: AMAZING!
Review: Months later, I still think about this book. A must-read if your own mother is completely selfish!
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Summary: A brilliantly book for the daughters of all our mothers...
Review: Rarely do I read a book more that once; but like Ruby Lennox repeatedly searching for the 'right life', so I am drawn to this story again and again to submerge myself in it's thoroughly intoxicating and humourous web of female existence! Through Kate Atkinson'companionable story telling, we follow a family of women through the ages. We examine their follies, personalities and often their sad lives, as they allow circumstance, fate and the age they live in to dictate their position in the world. From major events such as world wars, to personal traumas as bad marriage choices, each woman either unhappily accepts or silently battles against her situation, simultaneously hindered and aided by a long line of inherited genes and social beliefs. Only a handful achieve happiness by living for themselves and shunning the expected 'norms' of the time. Together with a relative who immigrated to Canada, one who hid in Austrailia and an irrational, irritable woman who found freedom in her Alzeihmers, Ruby finds her real life in a home she chose. An inspiring book for women of all ages. We learn from our strong and beautiful female ancestors. We admire them for living in ages confining for their free spirits. We thank them, learn from them and move on!
Rating: 
Summary: Marvelous family history
Review: There's supposed to be a deep-dark secret in Ruby's family, but the fact is that you will become so engrossed in this family, and their ancestors, that when the secret is revealed, it won't matter that much. So, if you believe that the discovery of this "secret" is the plot of the book, than the book is plotless - but if you believe that this is a historical account of a fictitious (but stunningly detailed) family in York, then it's a marvelous read and one that is hard to put down.
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Summary: Touching portrayal of a dysfunctional family
Review: I know that some readers found it hard to jump between the different stories - but I loved it and think it was what kept me hooked. I love the theme of intergenerational emotions and events repeating themselves and the possibility of inheriting your destiny from your forebears. Having studied my family tree I often wonder about old ancestors long dead and what their hopes and dreams and loves were. I found the portrayal of George and Bunty's marriage very real and though I finished the book many months ago can recall with clarity Patricia's adolescent angst. It was with real sadness that I read about Ruby's eventual breakdown(?). She seemd to feel so unloved and with a huge lump in my throat, I wished that I could reach into the story and hug her. I also enjoyed the setting of the story in York, which now makes me want to visit it. Overall a very honest and clever story. I will now read Human Croquet and hope that Atkinson writes more.
Rating:
Summary: One of the great family sagas
Review: It helps to make a family tree while reading about the four generations of relatives whose lives impact Ruby's. There are patterns -- wartime affairs, sisters who support and then fail, immigration to escape family -- these patterns leaf and flower on the many branches of Ruby's all-too-human family tree. I couldn't put the book down. (It's a cliche, but it is true.)
Rating: 
Summary: In this book, the plot does NOT exist!
Review: When I read the reviews of this book, I thought, "How neat to start a book with the words I EXIST". I thought certainly the book would be about the character making the statement. I suppose in a roundabout way, the book may be about Ruby, but mostly I found it a rambling, pointless family history. My own personal journal entries for the past ten years are more interesting. On a positive note, I thought the writers style was kind of neat, and I found the material easy to read, and sometimes humorous. If she had just added some meaning or point to her story, I think I would have loved it. But, as it was, I got to the end and it was so bad, I swear I heard a "phhht".
Rating:
Summary: This book will stay with me for a long time...
Review: This has to be the best book I have read in a long time. Yes, it jumps around a lot, yes, there are many characters to keep track of--but if art imitates life, this is it. Kate Atkinson has done such a superb job on the characters; it is almost impossible to believe they are fictional. The people are real--you love them, you hate them, you pity them--even the contemptible ones. I see parts of myself in all of these people--parts I never saw before, and some parts I didn't want to. Ruby will stay with me. This story so perfectly executed, and so originally told--like an enormous puzzle that the author gives us, pieces at a time. The Pearl piece of the puzzle was crushing--what an incredible parallel to the twin cousins, Daisy and Rose. If I could speak to the author, I would ask her two things: how was it that Ruby could see so clearly the things that were going on around her as she was inside Bunty's womb, but not know that she was not alone in there?? And how did George know Doreen, when the invisible connection was between Doreen/Edmund, and Bunty? I would like to read more by this author.
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