The Museum of Broken Promises

by Elizabeth Buchan

The stunning new novel from bestselling Elizabeth Buchan. The Museum of Broken Promises is a beautiful, evocative love-story and a heart-breaking exploration of some of the darkest moments in European history.Paris, today. The Museum of Broken Promises is a place of wonder and sadness, hope and loss. Every object in the museum has been donated - a cake tin, a wedding veil, a baby's shoe. And each represent a moment of grief or terrible betrayal. The museum is a place where people come to speak to the ghosts of the past and, sometimes, to lay them to rest. Laure, the owner and curator, has also hidden artefacts from her own painful youth amongst the objects on display.Prague, 1985. Recovering from the sudden death of her father, Laure flees to Prague. But life behind the Iron Curtain is a complex drab and grey yet charged with danger. Laure cannot begin to comprehend the dark, political currents that run beneath the surface of this communist city. Until, that is, she meets a young dissident musician. Her love for him will have terrible and unforeseen consequences. It is only years later, having created the museum, that Laure can make finally face up to her past and celebrate the passionate love which has directed her life.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Historical, Book Club, Fantasy

406 pages, Paperback

First published September 5, 2019

About the author

Elizabeth Buchan began her career as a blurb writer at Penguin Books after graduating from the University of Kent with a double degree in English and History. She moved on to become a fiction editor at Random House before leaving to write full time. Her novels include the prizewinning Consider the Lily – reviewed in the Independent as ‘a gorgeously well written tale: funny, sad and sophisticated’. A subsequent novel, Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman became an international bestseller and was made into a CBS Primetime Drama. Later novels included The Second Wife, Separate Beds and Daughters. Her latest, I Can’t Begin to Tell You, a story of resistance in wartime Denmark, was published by Penguin in August 2014.

Elizabeth Buchan’s short stories are broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in magazines. She reviews for the Sunday Times and the Daily Mail, and has chaired the Betty Trask and Desmond Elliot literary prizes, and also been a judge for the Whitbread First Novel Award and for 2014 Costa Novel Award. She is a patron of the Guildford Book Festival and of The National Academy of Writing, and sits on the author committee for The Reading Agency.

Reviews

[Ceecee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fascinating and intriguing story starts in 1986 as Laure Carlyle waits for Tomas to escape from Prague at the first train station stop in Austria after the Czechoslovakian border. It then switches to Paris and the Museum of Broken Promises and backtracks to Prague and Berlin in order to tell Laure and Tomas’s story. As a twenty year old Laure is employed by the Kobes family as an au pair to the two children initially in Paris but a few months later in Prague. Petr Kobes works for a Czech pharma company but how high is he in the Communist network that controls Czechoslovakia at this time and what exactly does he do for them? Laure meets Tomas while taking the children to a marionette show, he works at the theatre but is also a member of a dissident rock band ‘Anatomie’. Laure is drawn into a dangerous world of political resistance, surveillance and ultimately she pays a high price for her love of Tomas. The story is principally told from Laure’s perspective but some is told through Petr Kobes and there are several timelines, present day Paris, 1986 Prague and 1996 Berlin, post reunification.

I love the concept of the Museum of Broken Promises which Laure founds. This is a beautiful, poignant place as people donate a multifarious array of objects large and small, all with their personal stories of broken promises. Laure herself has exhibits including the Prague to Vienna train ticket from 1986. There is also a marionette which symbolises her time in Prague, they are very important in Czech culture and I like the way the author describes their performances as they seem to come alive. There is a lovely tender marionette moment at the end of the book which I find very touching.

Elizabeth Buchan captures differing moods and atmospheres in the varying cities. Laure’s walks through Paris contrast vividly with communist Prague and the difficulties of post wall Berlin. Prague is especially beautifully described as a haunting place which comes across very strongly. The difficulties and hardship of life in 1986 are well portrayed with tension ever present as the people are watched, the government is repressive and there is the danger of arrest for any dissidence and this is a very dark part of the story.

The characters are very interesting. Petr is an enigma- can he be trusted? Laure at 20 is naive and has no real understanding of the dangers, though why should she? She’s a lass from Yorkshire. However, the savagery of events in Prague force her to grow up and they cast a dark shadow over her life. The museum is her way of redemption. Tomas and his friends are very brave as they do have understanding of what they risk.

Overall, I love this book and I will take a lot away from it. It is a very moving and beautiful story, which is well written. The pace is a bit slow at times but I think this only serves to accentuate the dangers of life in Prague before the Velvet Revolution in 1989.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Books, Corvus.

[Ivana - Diary of Difference · Rating 4 out of 5]

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I am so excited to be part of the Book Buzz for The Museum of Broken Promises by Elizabeth Buchan. This lovely book is out on 02nd April, so don’t forget to grab your copy!

This book is quite emotional and heart-breaking from the very beginning until the very end. Based in Europe, in two timelines between now and 1985, we are witnesses to cold war, politics, fight for freedom and an extraordinary love story. 

Today, Laure is living in Paris and she owns The Museum of Broken Promises - a place of wonder and sadness. Every object in the museum has been donated and each represents a moment of grief or terrible betrayal. Laure also has hidden objects of her own in there, from her own youth.

Back in 1985, Laure is in Prague, running away after her dad suddenly passes away. But her life here is very confusing. She is struggling to comprehend the dark politics that are taking over the city. But then she meets a young musician. And her love for him is forbidden and causes trouble and terrible consequences. 

It is only years after having created the museum that Laure can finally come to terms with her past and celebrate the love she is feeling!

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My Thoughts:

This is a very emotional book and I have learned that I need to be in a certain mood in order to be able to fully appreciate it. This is one of those books that leaves a tiny mark in your heart that you will always carry with you. 

The story is amazing, we are witnessing a great life full of memories and stories of love, fight for freedom, betrayals, fears, ups and downs. It is so realistic that will make you shiver at times. 

I have to admit, I found myself slightly confused at the beginning, trying to figure out which timeline I am currently in, but after a few chapters, I am able to make a difference and get a clearer picture of the story. 

I loved the idea of this Museum of Broken Promises. It made me think of what object I could maybe leave there to represent my grief. 

I have to admit, I didn’t truly connect with Laure as a main character. She seemed too closed in her own world and her sharing her story in the way that she did was very contradicting to me. 

I loved Tomas though. He was my absolute favourite, the hero of this book.

Thank you to the team at LoveReadingUK, for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

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[Uhtred · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very gloomy and quite sad book. Four hundred pages that have nothing to do with the title of the book. In fact, the plot revolves around two themes: the love between Laure and Tomas and the repression of the freedom of the population in Czechoslovakia in the 1980s. Almost a treatise on the life of those dark years; hence the general gloom of the book. The love between Laure and Tomas, she English in Prague and he a dissident Czechoslovakian is the other strand of the plot; a love obviously opposed by the regime, which in the end has the last word. Or maybe not: maybe Laure and Tomas had the last tragic word. Three stars, but it is not a book of those I will reread.

[Rachel (not currently receiving notifications) Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

An original concept but a disappointing execution with a cast I struggled to invest in.

Although I wouldn’t consider myself a typical audience for a love-story, I was drawn in by the original concept of The Museum of Broken Promises combined with the prospect of an exploration of some of the darkest moments in European history. The reality proved disappointing and I struggled to become engrossed by the story, partly due to a cast that failed to emerge from beyond the page and relationships that lacked any realistic spark. However with the majority of the story taking place in Czechoslovakia in the build-up to the dismantling of communism, I also wearied of what felt like a repetitive cycle of political unrest with the actual characters remaining static.

Forty-year-old half-French, half-Yorkshire and now committed Parisienne, Laure Carlyle, is the curator of a museum inspired by her original idea and living an unassuming and self-contained existence in Paris. The Museum of Broken Promises is made up of donated objects and a way for people to deal with something that has gone wrong in their past; betrayals, lies and broken promises. Donating the items can act as a way for people to reassess their memories, often with the benefit of hindsight, and prove rather cathartic. Fiercely private and loathe to discuss her past, Laure’s work is her lifeline but with her “baby” having gained a reputation it brings the prospect of investment and media intrusion. Known for giving short shrift to journalists, the arrival of a pushy young American journalist in Meg Williams creates tension and although Laure is more than happy to explain the rationale behind the museum, she is far more sensitive to a combative American journalist opening prying and delving into her past.

One item on display has particular significance to Laure of which the reader is let into the secret from the off and it acts as a gateway to a time slip story showing a twenty-year old Laure working as an au pair to Czech businessman Petr Kobe and his family and moving from Paris to Prague in 1985. Laure soon discovers what lies behind the Iron Curtain and the extent of state control as she falls in with a prominent dissident musician, Tomas, and his comrades running a contentious marionette theatre. As Laure’s relationship with Tomas develops her position with the Kobes becomes more precarious and with that her safety.. As the dual narrative traverses between the years, it slowly draws out the story of Laure’s personal broken promise as she strives for closure and an answer to the questions that still haunt her.

For the three days that Meg shadows Laure most of their time is spent with potential donors and examples of donations and the unforgettable stories behind them. Unfortunately the combination of chippy Meg and prickly Laure makes for a jarring dynamic with the women both somewhat antagonistic. Likewise I found the past narrative lacked the chemistry of a first love and I was never wholly convinced by Tomas’s sincerity and struggled to connect with Laure, Meg or Tomas. Conversely it was Laure’s relationship with her employer, Petr, and the predicament that he was faced with that proved fascinating and their evident mutual attraction was compelling. Comparing the present day Laure who is all sharp edges and quick to take offence with the naive twenty-year-old version it becomes apparent how profoundly her experiences have altered her, why she has become so self-reliant and the reasons behind her standoffish exterior.

Whilst I really enjoyed the component of the story based around the museum, the variety of exhibits and the fascinating stories behind them, I struggled with the past timeline set in communist Czechoslovakia. Although the puppetry angle and its importance to national culture was well conveyed I found the narrative slow to progress and somewhat circular and during the focus on the turmoil in Prague in 1986 I found the political details less than comprehensive. Although the writing is solid I did find the novel a challenge to start off with as the prologue and opening chapters jump around and are too short to really cohere into anything meaningful and it took at least fifty pages to discover what the novel was actually about!

With thanks to Readers First who provided me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

[ABCme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! It's been a while since a book made such a deep impact! This one totally blew me away and will stay with me for a long time.
Covering present day Paris, Prague behind the Iron Curtain and Berlin after The Wall came down, this is substance combined with delight.

Laure is the curator of the Museum of Broken Promises. A wonderful space in Paris cramped with 'fragments of lives that have not gone according to plan'. One of the objects is a piece of her own life which leads the reader to Prague and Laure's experience with communism in her early twenties.
We move back and forth between cities, getting to know the young woman she was and how she became the strong woman she is. Also included are parts of her time in Berlin, facing the result of a collapsed regime in a country trying to pick up the pieces.
Having visited these cities myself, both before and after the fall of communism, I can honestly say the mood in this book is so accurate it took me right back.

'The Museum of Broken Promises' is one of a kind.
A pageturner filled with indepth characters set in an impressive environment. An absolute must read!

Thank you Netgalley and Corvus for the ARC.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook with Simon. We liked the concept, however, in actuality, it was hard going and we had difficulty following the story. At intervals, we both sat scratching our heads and wondering things like, "what on earth?" or "where are we?" It was not one of our better reading experiences.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, the book was ok (hence 2 stars). It was quite easy to read.

The book takes place largely in Prague, during the communist era. The saddest part was that the author seemed to just pick up some minor fun facts about Prague and the Czechs. The truth is, she does not know Prague at all, she must have spent very little time there. In the epilogue, she mentions a weekend in Prague. I must say, that is way too little to capture its atmosphere.
As a little example of the ignorance - she repeatedly mentions that the Czechs drink vodka as if it was a typical drink. Well, the Czechs drink vodka about as much as they drink rum or any other alcohol. The Czechs are no Russians where the vodka is supposed to be common. In Czechia, it is (as it always was) slivovitz (plum spirit). Which of course is just as strong and you get just as drunk drinking it as if you drank vodka. But it is simply not vodka.
Another example might be that there is no way that there could have floated a burger wrapping in Vltava (the river). There were no American burgers during the communist era. They came much later, in mid-90th.
If I separated myself from the fact that the city in the book was supposed to be Prague (where I have lived for most of my life) and its characters Czech, it was a good story. I rather liked the concept of the Museum of Broken Promises.

[La Biblioteca di Eliza · Rating 2 out of 5]

https://www.labibliotecadieliza.com/2...

Il museo delle promesse infrante ha disatteso la mia più grande aspettativa: parlare del museo delle promesse infrante.
Non sapevo molto sulla storia che racchiude e il più delle volte preferisco così, ma leggere questo libro è stato strano. Si parte piano piano, piano... ancora più piano, abbiamo davanti una 70ina di pagine piatte e noiose in cui abbiamo il primo incontro con la protagonista e scopriamo questo curioso museo parigino in cui chiunque può portare un oggetto, simbolo di una promessa fatta e non mantenuta. Un biglietto del treno, una scacchiera, un dentino in una scatola di fiammiferi.
Ero tentata di mollare la lettura e via, ma la mia testardaggine mi ha imposto di arrivare almeno a pagina 100 e lì decidere. Poi il racconto improvvisamente ha un picco e la storia si fa curiosa e interessante. Beh, finalmente mi sono detta, brava che hai continuato! Ecco, no! Laura no!! Perchè ad un certo punto è come se partisse un altro libro, un'altra storia, in cui il museo sparisce e vediamo solo la vita di Laure, la protagonista, divisa tra la Praga del 1986 e la Berlino del 1996. Fa la ragazza alla pari che segue la famiglia per cui lavora a Praga e lì scopre che il mondo oltre la cortina di ferro non è tinto di rosa e con gli arcobaleni che attraversano il cielo, ma c'è oppressione, repressione, spionaggio, violenza. Così, la giovane inglese casca dal pero e si stupisce delle spie che sorvegliano ogni tuo passo o dello Stato che considera ogni mente pensante come sovversiva e pericolosa.

La storia di Laure è interessante per l'ambientazione inusuale, la Cecoslovacchia prima della caduta del Muro di Berlino, tuttavia non mi ha coinvolto. Prima di tutto perchè tutto il racconto è piuttosto scontato, senza un minimo di colpo di scena o elemento innovativo. Vi potevo dire come finiva già prima della metà del libro, inganno compreso.

Poi, se devo essere proprio sincera, Laure è antipatica come poche persone e il suo personaggio è freddo, per niente empatico, di quelli che un po' speri sparisca dalla scena anche in malo modo (anche se, essendo la protagonista, sai che ti toccherà fino alla fine). Da giovane sembra, mi spiace dirlo, una cretina che non sa minimamente come giri il mondo. Siamo nel 1986, mica nel 300! Da grande è fredda, rigida, senza un minimo di trasporto, neanche sul finale, in cui sembra sghiacciarsi un pochino, ma no, antipatica era antipatica resta!

Ripensando ora alla lettura temo di non trovare neanche un elemento positivo della storia e dei personaggi. Lo stile della Buchan invece è, nella sua semplicità, perfetto per una storia che fatica a decollare, non appesantisce ulteriormente una lettura che già stenta e riesce a trascinarsi il lettore fino alla fine delle sue quasi 400 pagine.
Mi spiace, una bocciatura su tutta la linea!

[P.R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had been looking forward to reading this latest book from Elizabeth Buchan, an author I usually love, but the first half has proved so disappointing that I've set it aside.

I can't complain about the quality of writing, which is as good as ever. Trying to analyse my reaction to the disjointed chapter construction though, I've read other reviews and found that I'm not alone in wishing the story had been planned to run in a simpler way. The constant jumping around between time periods and places, shuttling the age of Laure, the main character, backwards and forwards, and the difficult teasing out of the plot are disengaging. I'm not sure I liked Laure very much either, and I found her decision-making infuriating. This is not a good basis for continuing with a book!

I've only awarded 2 stars, because for me 'it was OK' sums it up. I'm not sure if I have the energy to pick it up again and finish it, which is sad.

[Ellis ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recensione per Romance&Fantasy for Cosmopolitan Girls 😁
https://fidibooksblog.blogspot.com/20...

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I saw Elizabeth Buchan’s name on the programme of my local literary festival last summer, I recalled reading her books back in the day. It was before I moved home to Cornwall and I read most of them from the library, but I remember buying a copy of one of them for my mother and her enjoying it.

Those books were stories set in the recent past, and I stopped reading when the stories became more contemporary and more domestic.

When I read the programme I saw that there was a new novel that looked more akin to the novels I had read years ago, and that looked rather interesting, so I invested in a ticket to the event.

I was captivated by the extracts from the book that the author read, and what she said about the arc of her career was instructive. It echoed the arc of her life: and so the books had different settings and time periods when she had the freedom to travel and to research, but stayed in the present and in domestic settings when she did not.

I loved the settings and the recent times that she explored in this novel.

The story opens in Paris in the present day, with Laure, who is the curator of a small museum that she founded. The Museum of Broken Promises displays artefacts that speak of love, loss and betrayal. You might question the viability of such a museum, but the account of the exhibits themselves, and of how they were selected from the many submissions, was absolutely fascinating.

Little was known of Laure herself. She was happy living alone, she was reluctant to speak of herself, and she only really socialised when it was necessary for her museum. On those occasions she spoke so articulately that you could understand why The Museum of Broken Promises had succeeded and what made it so important.

It was natural though that potential investors and other friends were eager to know more about the woman who had created it. An eager young journalist wanted to write about the creation of the museum, Laure was persuaded to allow the girl to shadow her for a while, and she was taken aback at how much she had found out about her past

All that she had allowed to be seen was an anonymous exhibit in her museum: a framed ticket for a train from Czechoslovakia to Austria.

Laure first came to Paris in 1985, to work as an au pair. Not long after her arrival, her employers moved to Prague. The father of the family, who was a senior executive in a pharmaceutical company had been posted there. It was a time of unrest and change in what was still a communist city, and nothing in her experience had prepared her for what she would experience there.

She visited a marionette theatre with her two young charges. They were captivated by what happened there – (as was I – it was from this part of the story that I head the author read) – and it was there that Laure met a number of performers, and that she began to fell in love with Tomas, a musician and political activist.

The love affair that grew from that drew her into dissident circles, She would become aware that they were watched by shadowy figures, and that the. Her employers were concerned, and she came to realise that there were more reasons that a job in the pharmaceutical industry for their move into the communist bloc.

Elizabeth Buchan wrote about young love quite beautifully, she told of Laure’s experiences with empathy and understanding, and the time and place were so well drawn. I could see that this novel was underpinned by reseach but that never intruded on the human story and it helped to make that story feel both distinctive and utterly real.

I understood how what happened to Laure in Prague shaped her, and how she became the woman who would create The Museum of Broken Promises.

The story moved quite naturally between the present and the past, and I found the writing in both time periods elegant, evocative and engaging.

There were some scenes set in Berlin not long after the wall fell, and I felt that they was less successful. I understood why they were necessary to the plot, I appreciated that they helped to illuminate the changes that happened in Europe between the two main time periods, but they were less engaging and less interesting than the scenes set earlier and later.

That was disappointing, but the book as a whole worked for me.

It held a distinctive story and it gave me much to think about.

[The Reading's Love Blog · Rating 4 out of 5]

RECENSIONE QUI: https://thereadingslove.blogspot.com/...

"Il museo delle promesse infrante" ha suscitato la mia curiosità già dalla bellissima copertina e dalla trama interessante. È la storia commovente della vita di una donna, toccata dall’amore, dalla tragedia e dal desiderio che affronta l’esperienza difficile della vita a Praga, sotto il comunismo, e ritrae la bellezza e il dolore del primo amore. Veniamo catapultati indietro nel tempo, nell’era comunista degli anni Ottanta, dove vediamo la giovane e ingenua protagonista Laure che lavora per una famiglia benestante. Quando si innamora di un dissidente, le cose si fanno complicate e pericolose. Seguiamo Laure a Berlino negli anni Novanta e, per la maggior parte, a Parigi, dove cura, nel presente, il museo delle promesse infrante. La trama segue due parti - la storia d’amore e le conseguenze di un tradimento – e ho trovato quest’ultima parte molto più avvincente della prima. Il ritmo della storia è abbastanza scorrevole, anche a volte è piuttosto lenta a causa dei diversi dettagli della vita della protagonista in ogni città, aspetto che però permette all’autrice di costruire i suoi personaggi, di passare dalla giovane e ingenua Laure, ignara dei pericoli che la costringono a crescere, alla donna incallita e professionale che diventa nel presente. Elizabeth Buchan cattura i diversi stati d’animo e le atmosfere delle diverse città. Le passeggiate di Laure a Parigi sono in netto contrasto con la Praga comunista e le difficoltà di Berlino dopo la costruzione del muro, come anche le tensioni tra la gente, il governo repressivo e il pericolo di arresto per qualsiasi dissidenza. Una storia che esplora alcuni dei momenti più bui della storia europea. Mentre le due linee temporali del presente e del passato percorrono i diversi anni, lentamente capiamo la storia della promessa non mantenuta di Laure mentre si sforza di dare delle risposte a tutte le domande che la perseguitano ancora. È interessante vedere come una persona, un luogo, un paese o un regime possono avere effetti su tutto il resto, come avvengono i cambiamenti e gli incontri e come i regimi cadono.

CONTINUA SUL NOSTRO BLOG. VENITE A TROVARCI
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[Thebooktrail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visit the locations in the novel


From the moment I walked into the Museum of Broken Promises, I had a feeling it was going to be good. A place of wonder and lives lived. There are pieces here, ‘fragments of lives that have not gone according to plan’. It’s through one of these items that Laure, the narrator of this journey and curator of the museum starts this tale…..

Laure Carlyle works as an au pair for the Kobe family in Paris. When they move to Communist Czechoslovakia, life changes beyond all recognition. Laure finds the new regime scary and very regimented. No one trusts her since she is both a newcomer and an outsider. These are dangerous times and people like her are the enemy. Laure herself finds someone close to her working for the very party she and others fear.

Prague before the Velvet Revolution is a fascinating. The city and the country before it becomes Czechoslovakia is a very different yet interesting place to be. Going back in time through Laure’s eyes is both sad yet encouraging when it comes to a love affair. This story is then woven into the present day Paris storyline and it soon builds into a swirling image which at first blurred and then becomes a mix of history and secrets. There’s snippets of Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall too and this adds to the overall ‘ before and after’ picture. The ‘What if’s’, the looking back and making sense of what has come before.

The two timelines and flashbacks are the perfect way to tell such a story. How one person, one time and place, one country, one regime can have such an effect on everything else. During the travels back and forth in time, the history becomes the story and the story the history. Changes happen, meetings take place, regimes crack and fall. Surveillance of individuals seems to grow. Pretty apt when you think about the present day.

The whole idea of broken promises, regrets, hopes and human fears and a museum to hold them all in, was really poignant and was the perfect vehicle to showcase the emerging romance and historical immersion.

The author includes a fascinating bibliography too which makes this museum seem all the more real and its time in history that bit more significant.

Wonderful book and one to savour.

[Giuls · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stelline abbondanti

È un’ora che guardo la pagina senza aver scritto nemmeno una riga, perché davvero non so come approcciare questa recensione. Perché qualsiasi cosa mi ritroverò a dire non mi permetterà di esprimere tutte le emozioni che ho provato leggendo questo romanzo.

La storia racconta della vita di Laure, donna anglo-francese che a Parigi ha aperto un museo particolare, quello delle promesse infrante, a cui la gente può donare gli oggetti che simboleggiano promesse ricevute e mai mantenute, oggetti nei quali i visitatori possono ritrovarsi.
E tra gli oggetti, ovviamente, c’è anche qualcosa che riguarda direttamente Laure e i rimpianti della sua vita, relativi al periodo passato a Praga in pieno regime comunista.
La vicenda si snoda quindi sui due piani temporali, presente e passato. Tra i due ho ovviamente preferito quest’ultimo: mi è piaciuto molto il confronto tra Laure, ragazza occidentale, e il mondo sovietico che si è ritrovata di fronte, un mondo così chiuso, ma così pronto alla ribellione. Nel romanzo la storia raccontata e la Storia si sono unite alla perfezione, creando un romanzo decisamente commovente e toccante, che ha fatto sì che più volte mi ritrovassi a dover asciugarmi una lacrima (o anche più di una, per essere più precisi) o a mettere giù il libro con un senso di tristezza e sconforto per ciò che avevo appena letto.

Se proprio devo trovare un difetto al romanzo, ho trovato che in alcune sue parti, soprattutto tra quelle ambientate nel presente, il libro perdesse un po’ di mordente, il ritmo rallentasse e diventasse quasi noioso; per fortuna, però, quando ciò succedeva durava giusto alcune pagine e poi si ritornava sui ritmi precedenti.

Nel complesso un romanzo davvero molto toccante ed emozionante. Decisamente consigliato.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I REALLY struggled to get through this book but didn’t want to give up as I did enjoy parts of it. It was a very long book which disappointed for most as it had nothing to do with the title of the book.

[Elin Saari-Bladmyr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartbreaking tale of life while being constantly followed and unable to express thoughts freely, but at the same time a tale about strong sorrowfull memories and being unable to move on. I cried at the end, because I had hope throughout the whole book of a happy ending, and maybe that was the point. Crushed dreams have lost all hope.

4 sad stars from me :(

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Corvus books for a copy of Museum of Broken Promises.
Set-in present-day Paris and Prague in 1985 under communist rule. Laure is an au pair in Paris. Who is looking after two children and is finding it hard to keep the children occupied. When she comes across a puppet theatre, were she meets Tomas and falls in love with him. Whilst she is with him, she gets caught up in political matters.
Present day Paris Laure is a curator for the Museum of Broken Promises, where people come and bring objects that represent broken promises and incidents were, they have been betrayed in their lives.
When I read the description for this book, I thought that this was my kind of book. I have read similar stories. But it wasn’t what I expected. Yes, it was well written, and I did like the part of the story about the museum but, for me personally this book wasn’t for me. I couldn’t connect to the characters and I struggled through it. 3 stars from me

[Courtney (Saffy's Book Nook) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this would be an interesting read as I really liked the concept of the museum! I found Laure a really interesting character and I think she was strong and lucky to get through the events that happens throughout the book. I found the story a bit long winded in parts and I wanted to skip to the last few chapters around half way through. The heartbreaking love story did intrigue me and I did want to know what happened but I just wasn't gripped. It was insightful but heartbreaking to read about how things were back then in Europe. Overall I found this a very slow read, it didn’t captivate me as I thought it would and I didn't think the museum was utilised as much as it should have been.

I just don't think this book was for me.

Thank you Readers First, Corvus and Elizabeth Buchan for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Helen Kollin Fichtel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started off a good, solid 3 star book (with possible 4 star potential because the idea and the settings were phenomenal) but OMG just got more and more embarrassing and boring as it went on. Wooden characters, hamfisted set pieces on COMMUNISM IS BAD, timeline and plot all over the place.
I had to force myself to read the cringy rock concert and marionette theatre chapters.
An excellent idea really, really badly executed, all the more surprising as Elizabeth Buchan is normally a very good writer.

[Sharon Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not enjoy sorry

[Maria]

0/5 perché lo schifo che mi ha fatto questo libro non lo riesco nemmeno a mettere a parole: personaggi stereotipati, evidenti lacune narrative e buchi di trama (letteralmente), scrittura povera.
Non ci siamo.

[wutheringhheights_ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Il museo delle promesse infrante racconta la storia di Laure Carlyle, una donna per metà inglese e metà francese, che ha aperto a Parigi un museo speciale. Il libro ha infatti il titolo di "Il museo delle promesse infrante" perché il museo in questione ospita i ricordi sotto forma di oggetti. Le persone che hanno donato sono tutte state vittima di delusioni; ecco perché nelle sale di questo piccolo museo si possono trovare oggetti particolarissimi, come scarpe, veli da sposa, burattini.
Una idea molto poetica, che unita alla ambientazione parigina mi ha attratto da subito.
Ma il libro è ambientato anche a Praga, dove una giovane Laura ha lavorato presso una famiglia come ragazza alla pari. La narrazione quindi si destreggia tra presente e passato, mostrando varie fasi della vita di Laure.
La giovane donna che si reca a Praga conosce la città, coi suoi misteri, i vicoli di Mala Strana, e inaspettatamente, una sera, anche un piccolo teatro che mette in scena spettacoli di burattini. Laure ne è ammaliata e presto fa un incontro ancora più affascinante, il cantante e rivoluzionario Tomas. Questi diventerà l'amore della sua vita.
Praga però è anche una città nettamente comunista e non è semplice per una ragazza occidentale adeguarsi. Molti sono i pericoli e le cose che non capisce e che le risultano estranee.
La sua permanenza a Praga le fa conoscere il vero amore, ma le spezza anche il cuore. I pericoli del comunismo la obbligano a partire e a lasciare Tomas per sempre.
Questa rottura ha condizionato la vita di Laure, che non è mai riuscita a dimenticare Tomas e che, pur cercando risposte, non le ha mai trovate.
Il libro è un miscuglio di storia e amore; non viene dimenticato nemmeno lo spionaggio.
Tra i risvolti positivi c'è la descrizione di Parigi, ma soprattutto quella che viene fatta di Praga. L'ho trovata più accurata rispetto alla prima. Un'altra cosa che mi è piaciuta è la storia dei burattini. A quanto pare c'è una tradizione molto interessante legata a queste bambole che hanno nomi precisi, come Marenka ad esempio, e incarnano dei personaggi. La protagonista si innamora di questo aspetto della cultura cecoslovacca ed effettivamente l'ho trovata affascinante anche io. Vorrei sapere di più sulla storia di queste bambole malinconiche e magiche, su cui si dice abbiano addirittura un'anima.
Un po' di meno mi è piaciuta la storia d'amore e gli intrecci tra Laure e alcuni personaggi secondari. La stessa Laure l'ho trovata abbastanza "fredda" e lontana come personaggio e non sono riuscita a trovare risposte a molte domande. Questo però riguarda problemi che secondo me ha la trama, dei piccoli buchi che forse l'autrice ha pensato potessero dare mistero a personaggi e storia. Io invece li avrei colmati meglio. L'idea del romanzo è carina, tuttavia io avrei impostato diversamente molte cose.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. At first I wasn't sure I would finish the book, but the more I read the more I understood the characters and their motives. I liked the backdrop of life behind the Iron Curtain.

[Amarilli 73 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non riusciva ad affrontare il passato.
Stando alla fisica quantistica, un atomo in un labirinto non segue un solo cammino per uscire. Percorre in parallelo tutte le strade possibili. Quell’immagine descriveva perfettamente quello che faceva Laure: percorrere tutte le strade senza sapere perché, cadendo a ogni ostacolo, ritrovandosi col viso nel fango.

Mi sto rendendo conto che in questi ultimi anni tendo a prediligere le commedie romantiche rispetto alla narrativa per puro istinto di conservazione o, se vogliamo, per banale codardia. Temo i libri "tristi", i risvolti tragici e quel senso di magone che ti rimane addosso anche dopo qualche giorno dal termine della lettura.
E questa, in effetti, è una delle ragioni per cui ho impiegato così tanto a completare questa lettura, quasi due mesi ferma sul comodino, alternata ad altro.

Nel complesso non posso dire che il libro mi sia dispiaciuto, vi sono parti molto belle, l'idea del museo è al limite del geniale per gli spunti che può offrire, e tuttavia c'è uno struggimento costante, un senso di delusione ineluttabile che grava su ogni scena che costringe a interrompere e a prendere una boccata d'aria fresca.
Quanto meno io non sono riuscita a leggerlo senza soluzione di continuità.

La bellezza di questo romanzo sta nell'avere più romanzi, uno dentro nell'altro, grazie alla sovrapposizione di più piani temporali e spaziali (passato a Praga, presente a Parigi, ancora passato a Praga e a Berlino, e ancora presente), in una sorta di serpente che si morde la coda, confermando un finale che potevamo supporre e che è andato a delinearsi per indizi lungo tutta la trama.

Si parte da una stazione e da un treno che arriva portando un'amara sorpresa.
Decenni dopo Laure è l'affermata curatrice di un particolarissimo museo che lei stessa ha ideato e sviluppato: un museo fatto non di opere d'arte, ma di oggetti d'uso quotidiano, di cose vecchie ed usate, che trovano il valore nei ricordi di un singolo. Ma non sono memorie storiche, se non in parte, piuttosto prove inconfutabili di una promessa che venne fatta al loro proprietario e che non fu mantenuta. Dunque vengono donati al museo perché restino a perenne monito del torto subito o di una infelicità provocata.
I visitatori guardano le vetrine e condividono l'amara verità: "Non fate promesse che non potete mantenere, perché non vi sarà mai perdonato."

La stessa Laure, mezza francese e mezza inglese, ha donato un oggetto al museo, un biglietto del treno, per una promessa infranta nel 1996, quando ancora il muro di Berlino non era caduto e Praga sopravviveva sotto la cappa soffocante del comunismo, quando la gente cercava di fuggire da un regime di paura e di spie.
La Laure ventenne aveva creduto di poter portare la sua ingenuità occidentale e la sua voglia di libertà in un mondo che ancora non era pronto e continua a pagarne le conseguenze nel presente, in una solitudine fatta di rimpianti/rimorsi per ciò che fu.
E a noi rimane Tomas e il suo "On arrive".

Un romanzo dunque tormentato, con pagine introspettive e intimiste, con una storia o più storie d'amore in sottofondo, e tanta Storia.

Ecco, questa è il primo degli aspetti che non mi hanno permesso di amare del tutto questo libro: le disquisizioni storiche. L'abilità di ricreare l'ambientazione di un'epoca sta a mio parere nel farla trasparire da descrizioni, dialoghi, azioni dei personaggi. La Buchan ci riesce bene per la parte di Praga, mentre farcisce i pochi capitoli dedicati a Berlino e poi la parte della Praga post-regime di spiegazioni didascaliche. La caduta del Muro, le conseguenze vengono raccontate nei dialoghi, ma non in modo naturale, proprio come se gli stessi si mettessero a citare nozioni manualistiche.
La stessa autrice cita i volumi su cui si è documentata e l'impressione è che spesso abbia riportato/riassunto quanto ha studiato.
Un vero peccato, perchè quella parte appesantisce un libro altrimenti ben strutturato.
Sempre la parte di Berlino, poi, presenta un curioso cambio di prospettiva, facendoci vedere la storia dalla parte di Peter, di cui non ho capito il senso.

Per il resto, un libro che merita la lettura, anche solo per aver ricordato ancora una volta cosa subirono milioni di persone a causa dell'ideale comunista e dell'oppressione sovietica, che ancora oggi la sinistra "moderna" tende spesso a sminuire, come se si parlasse di parenti alla lontana ormai rimossi.
Esemplare in questo senso la madre di Peter, fervente sostenitrice del regime, che giustifica ogni atrocità (esecuzioni sommarie, torture, liste di proscrizione) che viene perpetrata contro dissidenti e giovani che chiedono soltanto libertà e qualche bene "occidentale" con la pallida motivazione che "il nazismo comunque fu peggio".

Aveva bisogno di abbracciare qualcuno – un bambino, un amante –, sentirlo e fare in modo di essere sentita. Stringere a sé una persona, essere stretti in un abbraccio, era la dimostrazione che si era vivi. Si era sentita una cosa muta e fredda per troppo tempo.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Museum of Broken Promises is a moving account of a woman's life, touched by love, tragedy and longing. It shines a light on the difficult, slippery experience of life in Prague under communism, and portrays the beauty and pain of first love. Readers should note triggers for an explicit description of rape and physical abuse, as well as references to suicide and torture.

Laure, half-British, half-French, spends time in her youth as a naive au pair in Prague, working for a well-to-do family during the communist era in the late 1980s. When she falls in love with a dissident, things grow complicated, and dangerous. We see snippets of this story as it unfolds, although we also alternate to later stages of Laure's life, in Berlin in the 1990s and, for the most part, Paris in the present day, where she curates the eponymous museum. An amateur American journalist takes an interest in the museum, and in Laure's reasons for founding it, exposing her to memories and grief from her past.

This novel has one of the most arresting opening chapters I've read in a long time, and I was completely engaged by the concept. The plot has two main stories within it - the story of a romance, and the story of the fallout from a betrayal - and I found the latter far more compelling.

At times the pace felt quite slow, but for the most part, I enjoyed luxuriating in the small details of life in each city. The pace also allows Buchan to build up her characters - to switch between the young, at times oblivious Laure, and the hardened, professional woman she becomes. I found Laure to be fairly frustrating in the Prague chapters (I wanted to shout at her: don't you know this isn't a game?) but her ignorance about how totalitarian states are run was plausible, albeit irritating to a contemporary reader.

With a title like The Museum of Broken Promises, themes of trust and betrayal are inevitable, and Buchan plumbs the depths of both. She also treats love in different ways; one of the most interesting storylines for me was the relationship Laure has with her employer, Petr - of all those depicted in the novel, this felt the most complex and real - which embodies all the aforementioned themes. The novel is also about the power to shape perception - a contrast between the way the Czechoslovakian regime went to great lengths to perpetuate their "truths", and the way Laure and her donors present objects in her museum.

Buchan uses some powerful images to express ideas about the macrocosm of Czechoslovakia and the microcosm of Laure and her lover Tomas' lives. The primary one, which recurs throughout, is of two characters from the marionette theatre - Mařenka the bride, and the tragic Pierrot. These were powerful devices, and I was interested to read that Buchan had been inspired to write the novel after seeing such artefacts at the Museum of Communism in Prague.

This one took me a while to read, so don't expect a page-turner. But if you want to learn more about life under communism in the former Czechoslovakia, and fall into a slow-burn love story complicated by politics and power, then this is the book for you.

Recommended if you liked: The Lace Weaver

I received a copy of The Museum of Broken Promises from Allen and Unwin in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Giorgia Legge Tanto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Innanzitutto mi devo soffermare sulla copertina che ho trovato bellissima. Diciamo che è la cosa che mi ha incuriosita subito. Dopo poco che lo leggevo in ebook ho deciso di acquistarlo perchè mi stava piacendo moltissimo. Il museo di cui parla il titolo esercita sui suoi visitatori una notevole fascino richiamando sempre più consensi. Il museo che Laure ha aperto a Parigi, nel quartiere di Canal Saint-Martin, è unico al mondo. E' un luogo mai statico, ma in continuo divenire e mutamento dove i protagonisti non sono sculture o dipinti di celeberrimi artisti, ma in esposizione ci sono oggetti, tra i più disparati, che nascondono una storia significativa. Sono oggetti portati lì da diversi donatori per raccontare la loro storia sospesa: sono infatti simboli di promesse infrante. Per Laure, padre inglese e madre parigina, quel luogo è praticamente l’unica ragione di vita. La storia, infatti, è incentrata sulle vicissitudini che hanno spinto Laure, curatrice, ad aprire questo singolare museo e si dipana su due piani temporali, passato e presente ovvero dal 1986 ai giorni nostri.  La bellezza e la vita pulsante della città boema, piena di arte e passione, sono rese cupe da un regime che tutto spia e tutto controlla. Con la violenza, se serve. Laure a Praga arriva a vent’anni; per un’estate è la ragazza "alla pari" di Petr, dirigente di una casa farmaceutica e persona molto influente, e della bella e problematica moglie Eva. L’atmosfera praghese la trascina subito in un vortice, l’incontro con Tomas, giovane musicista considerato sovversivo, e con il gruppo di amici del teatro delle marionette, la travolge. Questo amore giovane e impetuoso è descritto con tratti netti, con i colori intensi che gli si addicono. La luce del sentimento e della passione è resa ancora più intensa dal contrasto con lo sfondo: una società dove brulicano nel buio forze violente, dove tutti possono diventare delatori, carnefici, traditori. L'autrice ha saputo raccontare gli anni del terrore della Cecoslovacchia senza strafare e, usando a suo vantaggio l’atmosfera colma di delicatezza e melancolia del museo, si sofferma sul potere del ricordo e l’affettività di cui impregniamo i nostri oggetti più cari. I ricordi più dolorosi che spesso ci attanagliano. La delusione e l’amarezza, la consapevolezza di una speranza sfumata dietro a una promessa a cui credevamo con ardore e che, invece, è stata infranta con leggerezza o inconsapevolezza. Poi c’è l’amore, forza impetuosa e travolgente, il motore che muove il mondo. Laure non aveva messo in conto che Tomas le avrebbe stravolto la vita, aprendole gli occhi su una realtà ben diversa da quella che immaginava, lasciare la ridente Parigi per catapultarsi in una Praga afflitta da questa piaga sociale. La cornice parigina si presta bene ad accogliere l’ubicazione del museo, ma il talento dell’autrice sta anche nel sottolineare il cambio di registro. E' impossibile non restare destabilizzati quando, durante il racconto, ci conduce a Praga e ci immergiamo nell'atmosfera grigia e violenta. Quello che non avevo previsto era che riuscisse a commuovermi. Mi è piaciuto molto il connubio tra il surrealismo degli oggetti esposti e il romanzo storico; la storia parte da uno spunto originalissimo per arrivare ad un argomento di una certa sensibilità.

[Caren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only because I am a conscientious reader did I persevere until the last page...and then, breathed a sigh of relief that I had finished! From the beginning I was unable to "suspend my disbelief" and accept the premise of a Parisian museum that housed the donated artifacts of its contributors' personal betrayals, grief and guilt: the baby tooth that hadn't been rewarded by the tooth fairy, the unused train ticket bought for a reunion with a man's birth mother. Thankfully, the author chose to minimise the pages spent focused on the "collection" and moved to the past experiences of the museum's curator, Laure, in Communist Czechoslavakia and in Berlin (1986, 1996).

Employed by an influential Czech Party member as an au pair in Prague, Laure became involved with a Czech musician whose political resistance to the Communist policies highlighted the danger of living under Communist surveillance. Laure carried with her into the present the pain and uncertainty regarding her Czech lover's fate. While the Cold War backdrop was interesting to read, the characters were so stereotyped in their roles as victims and Party officials that I could not accept them as real. As well, I found the jumping back and forth in time awkwardly constructed. I discovered too late that the novel had been promoted as a "sweeping piece of bookclub women's fiction". That description would have saved me the time!

[Rita · Rating 2 out of 5]

PEZZO DA MUSEO

"Il mondo è un posto terribile, perché ti costringe a scegliere tra una patria che promette di farti soffrire e la sofferenza che devono sopportare quelli che scelgono di rinunciare alla patria."

Questo libro è terribile, perché promette una storia dal potenziale immenso (grazie a dei personaggi che suscitano non poca curiosità, alle delicate tematiche politiche che affronta e una collocazione storico-temporale particolarmente interessante) e invece si rivela ripetitivo, superficiale e prevedibile. Ci starebbe bene nel famoso museo del titolo.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molto bella l'ambientazione parigina, praghese e berlinese. Un romanzo più storico di quello che mi aspettassi. Una piacevolissima lettura, anche se un po' malinconica.

[Kylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite liked it but thought the writing lacked continuity and punch. Somewhat feeling like this book needed to be put in the museum, as the blurb was so enticing.