BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE MUSEUM

Galsworthy meets García Márquez. Heroine Ruby Lennox tells of her maturation in post-war York, England, with lengthy digressions on the previous three generations of her family. Local color, irony and sarcasm abound while mortality hovers in the air like smog. The tone reminds one of magical realism, only the magical is wished for, never delivered. Susan Jameson narrates ably enough. Fully voicing the characters, she chooses to read the narrative rather than impersonate the narrator, thus losing many of the textures of the rich text. She only skims the surface, but she does that very well. Y.R. [Published: FEB/MAR 01]