The concept of a museum where people donate items symbolising a broken promise frames the central story of life in the later years of Czechoslovakia. It has a lot to say about European politics of the time, and it gives a wonderfully vivid portrayal particularly of Paris, and also of Prague.
The book jumps rather dizzyingly between decades and countries which has its positives and negatives. I enjoyed seeing how the main character Laure evolved through time, she was a different person as curator of a museum than as a more innocent young arrival in Prague. There was one seen between Laure and Petr near the end that I really didn't like, it didn't ring true for me and was a bit uncomfortable. And it took a while for me to work out what the book was trying to be. Overall it was an interesting read.
The book jumps rather dizzyingly between decades and countries which has its positives and negatives. I enjoyed seeing how the main character Laure evolved through time, she was a different person as curator of a museum than as a more innocent young arrival in Prague. There was one seen between Laure and Petr near the end that I really didn't like, it didn't ring true for me and was a bit uncomfortable. And it took a while for me to work out what the book was trying to be. Overall it was an interesting read.