FIRST FRIDAY BOOK CLUB | The Museum of Broken Promises by Elizabeth Buchan

A beautiful, evocative love-story and a heart-breaking exploration of some of the darkest moments in European history, join The Friends as they discuss in detail these different eras.

The Museum of Broken Promises, a stunning novel from bestselling Elizabeth Buchan, is a powerful story of museum owner and curator, Laure Carlyle, who creates a space dedicated to donated objects representing a moment of grief or terrible betrayal, such as a wedding veil, theatre tickets, babies’ shoes. 

Set against contrasting eras, 1985 Prague, the dying days of the Cold War, and today’s Paris, Laure’s secrets and losses are uncovered. The Museum of Broken Promises is a place of wonder and sadness, hope and loss. Every object in the museum has been donated and each represent a moment of grief or terrible betrayal.

Recovering from the sudden death of her father, Laure flees to Prague in 1985. But life behind the Iron Curtain is a complex thing: 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.

The museum is a place where people come to speak to the ghosts of the past and, sometimes, to lay them to rest. Laure has also hidden artefacts from her own painful youth amongst the objects on display. 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.
Image| courtesy of www.allananddunwin.com