Meet Me At The Museum

Meet Me At The Museum / Anne Youngson
New York: Flatiron Books, c2018.
272 p.

This is a charming epistolary novel, recommended for those who enjoy books like The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society. It's told entirely in letters, and successfully: the letters sound like letters, and while the voice in both of them is a little too similar in times, it still made for a satisfactory read. 

I don't think I adored it as much as the majority of Goodreads reviewers did; it was a tiny bit slow moving for me, and the big 'event' near the end was telegraphed in flashing lights, and was a little predictable.

But, the conclusion was not as predictable. In fact, it was realistic, mature and really filled with promise and a peaceful sense of possibility. I really appreciated the author not taking the easy route and adding some complexity and realism to what is still a happy ending. 

This story is a series of letters between Tina Hopgood, a farm wife and grandmother who writes to Professor Glob - the author of a book on Tollund Man that she and her classmates read years before, as children. Prof. Glob is long gone, but the new man in his place, Anders Larsen, replies to Tina. This begins a correspondence, first about Tollund Man and Professor Glob and so forth, but fairly quickly turning into more of a personal exchange as they experience a meeting of the minds.

They tell each other their stories of family, of their search for the meaning of their lives, of their hopes for the future. They also talk about Tina's longing to visit the Tollund Man, something she and her best friend Bella had always meant to do together; it was Bella's death that pushed her to write her first letter. 

It's a cerebral, quiet book, with much pondering over the past - discussions of memory and responsibility and how to live - and if you love the epistolary format and clever people exchanging civilized, literate thoughts you will most probably love this book too. 

I enjoyed it, finding it very well written, with a lot to recommend it. It had some nice metaphors, like the cover image suggests -- at one point Tina says that life is like picking raspberries; you think you've got them all, but you get the end of a row and turn around and see all the ones you've missed along the way. Small observations like this one spark throughout the book, and make it a thoughtful and engaging reading experience.