Highly recommended – beautifully written with an interesting cold-war setting.
What happens
In the present day, Laure lives in Paris where she runs the Museum of Broken Promises. People grieving over a broken promise can donate items to the museum in an attempt to come to terms with their grief. And Laure is one such. In 1986 Prague, a city dominated by its oppressive government which is intent on crushing any form of rebellion, she’d fallen in love with a dissident musician. After a raid, they knew they had to leave the country. She waits for him in Austria, but he never shows up. The novel describes the events of that Prague summer and how their traumatic aftermath is still felt in the present day.
Dual timelines
1. Present day Paris
2. 1986 Prague & Berlin 1996
Romance
There is definitely romance in this book. Laure falls for the Mick Jagger-like (except a lot younger!) Tomas, and I loved the way Buchan described how Laure fell in love with him. The descriptions are tasteful and subtle but convey the intensity of her love which explains her feelings of utter loss in the present day.
The Best Bits
- I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the city and countryside around Prague in summer the most. They worked to further intensify the romance.
- Buchan’s writing style. It’s elegant and unhurried. It gives you time to become absorbed in both worlds while still wanting to turn the pages to find out more about Laure’s love story.
Diana’s Thoughts
Spoiler alert! It doesn’t have the conventional ‘happy ever after’. If you enjoy reading more conventional romances where everything works out in the end, you might want to give this a miss. However, given the circumstances which are spelt out early on, a happy ending would have been unrealistic. But the ending is satisfactory in that it connects the loose ends together and gives a sense that Laure has gained strength and healing from her work and friends.
I wasn’t especially fond of the concept of the Museum of Broken Promises. It seemed pretty unlikely to me and I’m not sure I’d queue up to go! But it was a good vehicle to show Laure’s emotional state.
I’ll definitely read more of Elizabeth Buchan’s work. I loved the way she wrote.
Official Blurb
Welcome to the Museum of Broken Promises,
a place of wonder, sadness ... and hope.
Inside lies a treasure trove of objects - a baby's shoe, a wedding veil, a railway ticket - all revealing moments of loss and betrayal. It is a place where people come to speak to the ghosts of the past. The owner, Laure, is also one of those people.
As a young woman in the 1980s Laure fled to Prague, where her life changed forever. Now, years later, she must confront the origins of her heart-breaking exhibition: a love affair with a dissident musician, a secret life behind the Iron Curtain, and a broken promise that she will never forget.
https://elizabethbuchan.com/books/the-museum-of-broken-promises/
· Publisher : FABER ET FABER (February 28, 2020)
· Language : English
· Paperback : 416 pages
· ISBN-10 : 1786495317