Full of insight, humor, and candor, Tina and Kristian’s letters are a testament to the joy that can come from the meeting of two intensely curious minds. Anne Youngson’s Meet Me at the Museum is a celebration of long letters, kindred spirits, and the possibility of writing a new story for yourself, at any stage of life.
Comment: When I first knew about this book what made me interested was the fact it was an epistolary story and I tend to like stories presented like that.
So, I checked the blurb on the goodreads site and it said:
"When Tina Hopgood writes a letter of regret to a man she has never met, she doesn't expect a reply.
When Anders Larsen, a lonely museum curator, answers it, neither does he.
They're both searching for something - they just don't know it yet.
Anders has lost his wife, along with his hopes and dreams for the future. Tina is trapped in a marriage she doesn't remember choosing.
Slowly their correspondence blossoms as they bare their souls to each other with stories of joy, anguish and discovery. But then Tina's letters suddenly cease, and Anders is thrown into despair.
Can their unexpected friendship survive?"
Just to summarize, Tina is a 60 something year old married woman in the UK who decides to write a letter to a professor in Denmark, over the Tollund Man, a real archaeological find that was discovered in Denmark. However, since many years have passed, the professor is dead and the 60 something year old curator of the museum where the Tollund Man is replies to her with that information.
From here, they start sharing things about themselves and of course it is expected of the reader to infer they will become friends and sort of confidants. They often share cultural or even what we can call intellectual opinions but also personal ones, and stuff about their lives.
I was immediately drawn to the possibility of a poignant story with two adults exchanging letters like in old days and slowly revealing enough of one another that their relationship would evolve somehow. I didn't look any further, I checked that the average of this book was a positive one so I confess I just added it, later on I got it and now that I have read finished reading the novel, it isn't what I imagined at all, even accepting the fact the story has merit and enough points of interest.
I was immediately drawn to the possibility of a poignant story with two adults exchanging letters like in old days and slowly revealing enough of one another that their relationship would evolve somehow. I didn't look any further, I checked that the average of this book was a positive one so I confess I just added it, later on I got it and now that I have read finished reading the novel, it isn't what I imagined at all, even accepting the fact the story has merit and enough points of interest.
This story isn't a bad one, per se. I think Tina and Anders are interesting people and their letters have enough detail to let us know a lot about them and why their lives should be interesting, especially because they have very different backgrounds and career choices.
I admit that part of my impression of this book is one of boredom because some letters mentioned subjects that I don't think were addressed in a very appealing manner but that can be just my own perspective.
The most interesting part of this book is, precisely, the personal sharing, the things about both Tina's life in the UK with a husband who we learn never paid much attention to her although she has been a life companion to him and his farm and about Anders's two children and his deceased wife, who had some problems. I was invested in these two characters, yes, and I wanted to know things about them and where the story would lead. With hindsight, some details start to be quite obvious in regard to the main issue the author wanted to address here. It was still emotionally well done to make me give a positive grade to this book.
The end of the story, sadly but understandably, is an open one and although it suits the whole plot, it still left me a little unrested because of its lack of closure.
Now to go back to why I added the blurb when I begun my comment and the crux of my issue with this novel:
Even putting aside the slight boring entries, I would have overlooked them if this book was the type of story I imagined when reading the first blurb I found. It doesn't say anywhere, I know, but I did expect a little bit more obvious romance content. Without having read reviews or such, I imagined Tina and Anders could be a little younger and their relationship could evolve in that path more obviously.
The way things happen, the reader can think it or not, depending on how the story is read. But I really thought the romance would be treated in a more evident approach. My disappointment is centered on the blurb, which isn't doing its role of informing correctly to the detail of even switching the protagonist's name. By comparing the two; I mean the one I include in my comment and the one of this ebook edition (and in goodreads anyone can compare them too), they are not the same. Had I seen the two, I might have different expectations or I might have chosen to not read it.
This doesn't mean the story isn't worth reading and I did enjoy some of its content. But it can be very annoying how a blurb misleads or doesn't inform as it should.
Still, this book has enough interest on its own and anyone who likes epistolary and fiction can enjoy reading it.
Grade: 6/10
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