Blog Tour ~ Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to host today's stop on Meet Me at the Museum Blog Tour

Doubleday
17 May 2018

My thanks to the publishers and Random Things Tours for my invitation to be part of this Blog Tour 

What's it all about..

Sometimes it takes a stranger to really know who you are When Tina Hopgood writes a letter of regret to a man she has never met, she doesn’t expect a reply. When Anders Larsen, a lonely museum curator, answers it, nor does he. They’re both searching for something, they just don’t know it yet. Anders has lost his wife, along with his hopes and dreams for the future. Tina is trapped in a marriage she doesn’t remember choosing. Slowly their correspondence blossoms as they bare their souls to each other with stories of joy, anguish and discovery. But then Tina’s letters suddenly cease, and Anders is thrown into despair. Can their unexpected friendship survive?

What did I think about it..

This gentle, epistolary novel focuses on the shared experiences of two unlikely people who start a correspondence based on their shared interest in the Tollund Man. Their interest in the Iron Age isn't really what the story is about , although I did find some of the descriptions of Tollund Man quite fascinating, however, it is in the quiet build-up of a relationship between two lonely people where the story finds its heart.

The letters between Tina Hopgood in Bury St Edmunds and museum curator Anders Larsen at the Silkeborg Museum in Denmark gradually expose the loneliness of their lives and their regret at time passing. Their considerate and, almost, rueful recollections of the relationship they each have had with their respective spouses and children, adds a perceptive glimpse into those reminisces which come all too frequently in later life.

There's a real difference in reading a novel which is entirely epistolary as it gives the story a unique ability to get right into the minds of the characters and Meet Me at the Museum, succeeds where perhaps a conventional novel wouldn't, as it allows a unique perspective into the souls of the correspondents in an intimate and inclusive way.

Quietly thoughtful with a sensitive and considerate look at all the vagaries of life, Meet Me At The Museum is a story which is expressed with kindness, gentle humour and an awareness that love can be found, often in the most unlikely of places.

About the Author

ANNE YOUNGSON worked for many years in senior management in the car industry before embarking on a creative career as a writer. She has supported many charities in governance roles, including Chair of the Writers in Prison Network, which provided residencies in prisons for writers. She lives in Oxfordshire and is married with two children and three grandchildren to date. MEET ME AT THE MUSEUM is her debut novel, which is due to be published around the world.

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