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 he was all that was left.She really wanted to be Vivien Leiht or Celia Johnson,swept off to America by a romantic hero.But here she was,stuck in a flat above the pet shop in an ancient street beneath York Mister,with sensible and sardonic Patricia aged five,greedy cross-patch Gillian who refused to be ignorde,and Ruby

Kate Atkinson was born in Youk adn now lives in Edinburgh.She has won several prizes for her short stories,including the lan Stjames Award.Behind the Scenes at the Museum is her first novel and won the whitbread Book of the Year award.Her sceond novel,Human Croquet,is also published by Black Swan.