gzofian 's review for:

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

3.0

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I so wanted to feel more than a three star feeling. I have adored Alice Hoffman’s writing before, but this had me feeling discomfort fairly early on in the text. The research, on a very important period, was clearly extensive and writing about the setting and the social mores, both on the edge of huge change, was definitely a worthy subject to explore. What this text lacked, for me, was characters of substance. The narrative felt clunky, the characters more caricature. Early on, I enjoyed Eddie’s introduction, but each development seemed to flatline - his photography, his investigative skills. Perhaps the Jane Eyre analogy was meant to be more of a subtext than is realised. Coralie’s night swims could have led on to more complex levels of relationship not only between protagonists, but to examine further the schism between monde and demi-monde. The loose knots seemed hurriedly tied and, in the end, New York was the only star.