This novel was like a breath of fresh air.
I love discovering wonderful books by debut authors. I may be slightly biased toward them, as I hope to be a debut author sooner rather than later, but I really feel like you’re unearthing a hidden treasure when you find such a gem from a previously unknown writer.
I mean, you didn’t find that gem. The publisher did. Well, really, the agent did.
BUT STILL. You took a chance on reading a new book by a random author, and you were rewarded with a wonderful story.
Meet Me at the Museum is an epistolary novel, which may scare some people off – but that just means the story is told via letters instead of direct dialogue/interaction between characters. It’s an interesting perspective because there’s no narrator to tell you what a character may be feeling or thinking; you’re privy to only what the character wants to reveal. The best epistolary novels make you feel like you’ve stumbled across some secret letters pulled from a dusty old trunk, baring the souls of two individuals locked in a private correspondence from long ago.
While the letters in this novel take place in the here and now, Meet Me at the Museum still makes you feel like you’ve uncovered a beautiful, semi-clandestine relationship. The two letter-writers, Tina and Anders, are both experiencing some loneliness in their later stages of life, and they begin a correspondence based on their mutual interest in the Tollund Man.
Don’t know what/who the Tollund Man is? Neither did I. I had to stop during the first few pages and look this dude up. There’s actually an Author’s Note at the end of the book that gives some background on this archaeological discovery, so I recommend turning to pages 271-272 of the book for some spoiler-free info before diving into the story. Or, you could just use this Wikipedia link for info.
While their mutual love of the Tollund Man sparks the relationship between Tina and Anders, their correspondence quickly moves beyond this topic into much deeper concerns – loss and love, grief and joy, a life lived versus a life unlived. However, they always circle back to the Tollund Man.
Tina and Anders are both at a time in their lives when, as they put it, they have more years behind them than in front of them. Tina is especially concerned with wondering if her life has been meaningful. She has a lot of regrets – mostly about paths not taken – and she shares them with Anders, who commiserates because he, too, was often too busy doing one thing to stop and enjoy the other things around him.
While I am only 35, this idea of questioning “has my life been worthwhile?” struck me pretty deeply. I fully admit I may be going through a bit of a mid-life crisis, and part of this mid-life crisis seems to be this unquenchable urge to be creative. Hence, this blog you are reading, and the novel I wrote that you will hopefully read one day.
I took a long hiatus from writing, but around this time last year, I was starting to wonder the same things as Tina – what opportunities have I been offered and not taken? What have I missed out on because I grasped at something else? Why do I have dreams of doing something but never the willpower to turn those dreams into a reality? And, perhaps the most daunting — what plans have been left unfulfilled, not because I was prevented from fulfilling them, but because I let too much time pass and the moment is gone?
These are all questions Tina asks herself, and Anders, and their emotional, honest conversations make you ponder your own life just as deeply. We are all keepers of our own fates, and this is pointed out numerous times throughout the novel. Tina and Anders support each other to move outside their comfort zones, in both small and big ways, and the encouragement ones receives from the other is heartwarming, especially considering that they’ve never actually met.
However much the novel may delve into missed opportunities and lost loves, the story ultimately reminds you of the value of life – that it’s never too late to embrace your life and seize upon opportunity. This point is even more deeply driven home when you consider the book’s author – a retired mother and grandmother who has just published her first novel, which turned out to be an international bestseller.
Not too shabby, right? If Anne Youngson can do it, so can we all, people. So can we all.
Have you read Meet Me at the Museum? I would love to hear your thoughts on it below!
And, be sure to check back in for my book-inspired recipe: Raspberry Thyme Chicken.
