As we here in the UK are carefully treading that fine line between crisp Autumn days and damp chilly winter ones, I find myself looking for books which are a little darker than my summer reading choices. I want something with a little more mystery and intrigue, something to curl up with when its cold and dark outside. The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman meets those requirements rather well.
The story takes place on Coney Island and features Coralie and Eddie. Coral is the webbed fingered mermaid, daughter of Professor Sardie the cruel and bizarre orchestrator of the Museum of Extraordinary Things. On her fathers instruction, Coralie spends much of her days underwater in a tank, where she is displayed as a mermaid. Eddie is a photographer trying to escape his troubled past. He spends his time taking photographs of life on the busy city streets. In doing so, he also become embroiled in a mystery of missing girl. In his search for this girl and attempts to solve the mystery, he comes across Coralie. Coralie is unsurprisingly unhappy in the bizarre life her increasingly disturbed father has made for her, and attempts to escape. It seems that Eddie and Coralie are destined to meet. As star crossed lovers, together they navigate troubled waters in their search for love and freedom.
There is an incredible level of detail in this book. Not just in terms of its historical context and setting, but in the descriptions of the bizarre characters and acts which make up its cast. The ‘freaks’ as they are billed are painted kindly by Hoffman. She creates interesting relationships between them and causes the reader to question his / her own prejudices about those who are ‘different’.
There is certainly a creepiness to this story with its array of freakish characters, murders and things that go bump in the night. And I appreciate it may not appeal to all tastes. It has often been compared to The Night Circus, one of my all time favourite books. I can see why but there are differences. The Night Circus is made of pure magic which swept me along and wouldn’t let me go. The Museum of Extraordinary Things is much less comfortable to read. Some of the events are shocking, perhaps because they are based in historical fact rather than pure fantasy,
So, you are looking for something just a little chilling but suffused with a reassuring depth of spirit and courage to curly up with this winter, then this is a book for you.
