Product Description

An outstanding, exceptional, wonderful, and altogether quite brilliant Black Swan.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5092 in Books
• Published on: 1996
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

The Times
'An astounding book…without doubt one of the finest novels I have read for years'

The Sunday Times
'Enchanting. It hops with sprightly omniscience from past to future and back again'

Daily Mail
`Little short of a masterpiece…Fizzing with wit and energy, Kate Atkinson's hilarious novel made me laugh and cry'

Customer Reviews

An amazing first novel
I read this book about 10 years ago on a friend's recommendation and can remember thinking it was an amazing debut novel at the time. I decided to read it again recently, and had completely forgotten the story and so it was like reading it for the first time. I still think it's a great read and so well written that I still find it hard to believe it was Kate Atkinson's first novel. It's very funny and insightful. The story of Ruby Lennox's life, although sometimes tragic, is told in a very humourous way and it's the type of book that makes you want to carry on reading to the end to find out what happens to everyone as the characters are so well developed and really seem like real people. I would definitely recommend this novel and I think I'll be reading some more of Kate Atkinson's books.

A lovely book
I have read one Kate Atkinson novel previously and did not find it that grabbing, but this book was recomended to me by many close friends and I loved it!! The story it's self is not a very fast paced one, but the characters are so beautifuly brought to life, that you have to keep reading to find out what happens to them all (there are many characters).

Although the ending was not particularly heart breaking, I found my self having a little sob, as I felt like I'd been with the characters through their heart break, especially Ruby.

I recomend it highly

Like a good old family gossip
I love this book: the characters are so warm and alive and it's a wonderful evocation of the period (at least I feel like it is, based on my mum's tales of a 50s/60s Yorkshire childhood!). It's like sitting down with several generations of your family with everyone telling stories about their lives, dragging a few skeletons out of their closets along the way. The quirky style and wry humour just add to its charm.