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auntmine84 's review for:
The Museum of Extraordinary Things
by Alice Hoffman
I won this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway- thank you!!
The Museum of Extraordinary Things takes place in 1911 and follows the story of Coralie, a young girl who lives in the house attached to the museum. Her father runs the museum and runs Coralie's life with a strict and unkind hand, but Coralie has mainly been raised by the loving housekeeper Maureen. The museum is filled with both extraordinary creatures that are not alive and preserved in jars, but it also houses rare animals and provides a place for the human wonders to showcase their differences. There is the Wolfman, the Butterfly Girl, and a woman covered in bees, to name a few. Though people come to gawk at these wonders, Coralie sees them as the people that they are; from the start she has a sweet nature and a trusting heart. Her father is quite different; he is cruel and secretive, and he is not above creating wonders of his own in order to boost the popularity of the museum. Coralie eventually performs in the Museum as the Mermaid Girl, and she is always very conscious of what her father calls her "deformity."
At the same time, we're introduced to Eddie: a photographer who is dealing with his own family demons. Eddie and his father have escaped the pogroms against the Jews in the Ukraine, but Eddie's mother was lost. Eddie and his father have a difficult relationship that haunts Eddie for most of his life. He left his father to become a photographer, but family is always very much on Eddie's mind.
Coralie and Eddie sort-of meet along the banks of the Hudson, and she is immediately captivated by him. The book follows their separate journeys and until they are finally brought together in a more permanent and unexpected way.
The Museum of Extraordinary Things catches your imagination from the very beginning. The narrative flows easily between Coralie and Eddie, and New York in 1911 becomes quite real. The section about the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was especially heartbreaking. Each character- especially the wonders- are written with such depth and kindness. Hoffman shows how each character-from the Butterfly Girl to Eddie's father- is more complex than most people realize. Even the dogs are given a depth and a personality that one doesn't often see. The intertwining of the characters before they even meet was brilliant and unpredictable. I felt as though Hoffman was showing the reader multiple reasons not to judge a book by its cover, but she was doing it in a heartfelt way.
The Museum of Extraordinary Things takes place in 1911 and follows the story of Coralie, a young girl who lives in the house attached to the museum. Her father runs the museum and runs Coralie's life with a strict and unkind hand, but Coralie has mainly been raised by the loving housekeeper Maureen. The museum is filled with both extraordinary creatures that are not alive and preserved in jars, but it also houses rare animals and provides a place for the human wonders to showcase their differences. There is the Wolfman, the Butterfly Girl, and a woman covered in bees, to name a few. Though people come to gawk at these wonders, Coralie sees them as the people that they are; from the start she has a sweet nature and a trusting heart. Her father is quite different; he is cruel and secretive, and he is not above creating wonders of his own in order to boost the popularity of the museum. Coralie eventually performs in the Museum as the Mermaid Girl, and she is always very conscious of what her father calls her "deformity."
At the same time, we're introduced to Eddie: a photographer who is dealing with his own family demons. Eddie and his father have escaped the pogroms against the Jews in the Ukraine, but Eddie's mother was lost. Eddie and his father have a difficult relationship that haunts Eddie for most of his life. He left his father to become a photographer, but family is always very much on Eddie's mind.
Coralie and Eddie sort-of meet along the banks of the Hudson, and she is immediately captivated by him. The book follows their separate journeys and until they are finally brought together in a more permanent and unexpected way.
The Museum of Extraordinary Things catches your imagination from the very beginning. The narrative flows easily between Coralie and Eddie, and New York in 1911 becomes quite real. The section about the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was especially heartbreaking. Each character- especially the wonders- are written with such depth and kindness. Hoffman shows how each character-from the Butterfly Girl to Eddie's father- is more complex than most people realize. Even the dogs are given a depth and a personality that one doesn't often see. The intertwining of the characters before they even meet was brilliant and unpredictable. I felt as though Hoffman was showing the reader multiple reasons not to judge a book by its cover, but she was doing it in a heartfelt way.