I was reviewing another first novel recently - and in this regard Atkinson's is in striking contrast with Bacigalupi's.
Not everything is perfect in her novel. Its complex structure does not always work. But, up until the very end, Atkinson keeps injecting emotional charges which hit the reader like so many electric shocks.
Dealing with the past, memories and how they carry their ghosts into the present (is the past what we leave behind, or is it what we take with us?), Behind the Scenes at the Museum rivals with the best novels of a John Irving. It sometimes echoes Garp or The Hotel New Hampshire. It has the same mix of dark humour and foreboding. But spanning over the whole 20th century, the two world wars and set in the harsher light of the North East of England, it resonates with themes much closer to my heart.
