I loved this book it was so well researched and both sensitively and intriguingly written.
Set in three time periods, each in a different European City showing the political changes from the 1980s to the current day. This is not a topic I know huge amounts about so I was interested throughout to learn something new in a provacative and empathetic setting.
The story was set up as a mystery to the reader with sections of history being filled in throughout the entire novel leading to the big reveal at the end. The book itself kept my interest although there were times when I found the speech a little hard to follow, who was speaking and what they meant, although it's possible that this was the intention of the writer, to portray the difficulty in having meaningful conversations, and the importance of paying attention at all times, whilst living in a facist, dictatorial regime.
All in all I would recommend this book to people who like to learn about social history whilst getting to know a set of interesting characters and reading about a more personal experience of an individual rather than the political system itself. I was almost brought to tears on a number of occasions, which is quite rare for me. I work in museums and have a passion for portraying social history and encouraging people to empathise with 'every-day' people from the past so I really wish the Museum of Broken Promises existed because I'd love to visit! I felt that the Museum Industry was portrayed to perfection with the aims and goals of making them a more interactive experience really captured! So on behalf of my colleagues thank you Elizabeth Buchan!
Set in three time periods, each in a different European City showing the political changes from the 1980s to the current day. This is not a topic I know huge amounts about so I was interested throughout to learn something new in a provacative and empathetic setting.
The story was set up as a mystery to the reader with sections of history being filled in throughout the entire novel leading to the big reveal at the end. The book itself kept my interest although there were times when I found the speech a little hard to follow, who was speaking and what they meant, although it's possible that this was the intention of the writer, to portray the difficulty in having meaningful conversations, and the importance of paying attention at all times, whilst living in a facist, dictatorial regime.
All in all I would recommend this book to people who like to learn about social history whilst getting to know a set of interesting characters and reading about a more personal experience of an individual rather than the political system itself. I was almost brought to tears on a number of occasions, which is quite rare for me. I work in museums and have a passion for portraying social history and encouraging people to empathise with 'every-day' people from the past so I really wish the Museum of Broken Promises existed because I'd love to visit! I felt that the Museum Industry was portrayed to perfection with the aims and goals of making them a more interactive experience really captured! So on behalf of my colleagues thank you Elizabeth Buchan!