In Kate Atkinson’s debut novel, Ruby Lennox begins narrating her life at the moment of conception, and from there takes us on a whirlwind tour of the twentieth century as seen through the eyes of an English girl determined to learn about her family and its secrets. By interspersing flashbacks with the narrative of Ruby’s own life, the book chronicles the lives of four generations of women in The Family, from Ruby’s great-grandmother Alice and grandmother Nell, to Ruby’s mother Bunty and Ruby herself.
