I was sent an uncorrected proof copy of The Museum of Broken Promises by Elizabeth Buchan to read and review by NetGalley.
I was really keen to read and review this novel as from the blurb it seemed right up my street. The premise of the book is a good one and I loved parts with the marionettes and their dissident stories. The museum itself was intriguing, with a concept that I thought was well thought out. There were times when I thought things became over-romanticized but there was also an insight into what it must have been like living within a restricted communist city. On the whole I enjoyed the story, however, there were times when I felt it became a little repetitive and there was a section of the book that I felt became really rather boring, going on for too long, however this may be tightened up by the time it is published. Not a novel up to my 5 star expectation of it but I am happy to give it 4 stars – even for the concept alone!

I found this book quite hard to get into at first, as Laure, the main character, is not easy to warm to. As the book progresses we realise exactly why this is and why she has become a rather aloof, self-contained person over her life. In retrospect I think the author might have deliberately chosen to make Laure difficult to fathom and only reveal her experiences in a slow drip-feed of details from her earlier life in Prague. Gradually this backstory becomes the real focus of the novel rather than the somewhat unconvincing Parisian museum, where the story begins. The split time-shift is awkward at first, but eventually the reader is drawn into her Czechoslovakian adventure and actually starts to care about her. This is by far the most interesting and absorbing part of the novel, as we finally piece together what has happened and how it has shaped her life. I couldn't wait to find out the whole story by the end and even shed a tear in the final pages. Interesting and ultimately gripping - and well worth sticking with to the end!

I have found this book to be an incredible story on several fronts. Our protagonist is the curator of a museum in Paris which exhibits diverse objects donated by private individuals. The various totally unrelated articles are all linked to incidents catastrophic to each persons life. This museum is a cathartic journey where long held damaging memories can be exorcised, and the story of each object related to the curator in total confidence. However several of the objects belong to the curator Laure, who hides her traumatic past as a young au pair in Czechoslovakia during the communist regime. But in doing so she cannot move on from events which have left her scarred and unable to enjoy a normal life. And so, we the reader, slowly and exquisitely turn each page outlying a communist country in turmoil: a young girl already grieving over the loss of a parent and damaged by an unhappy love affair exposed to a series of events over which she has no previous experience and even less control. Fact and fiction intertwined weaving a tragedy for our heroine and even greater tragedy to the citizens and country in which she becomes embroiled as a twenty year old innocent. The premise of this book, a museum of broken promises captivated me as did the stories held within the museum. Nothing prepared me for the unfolding love story of the heroine who moved from a young innocent experiencing a crush on a rock star to a lifelong passion of memories and regrets. All three dimensional characters, each with flaws and saving characteristics. A well researched and hugely detailed background story of living under a communist regime. And finally a worthy conclusion to a book I was unable to put down. A five star read the like of which I have difficulty comparing. and feel enriched by the experience.

it is refreshing to have another point of view for the Cold War that is not Germany or Hungary. I love the different timelines of the story and until the end you wonder what might happened. Beautiful, touching story of normal people getting caught in the greater scheme of life. .
I strongly recommend thais book

Brilliant, involving, empathetic and compelling.

Almost a triptych of a novel this covers three key themes, young love, middle life and broken promises. Once I was drawn into it I really resented any interruptions.

For me, the stories of the 'broken promises' were so poignant and brilliantly crafted. Each of them worthy of being a short story in themselves. Superbly written. Particularly the stories affecting children and the promises adults make to them.

The use of what was Czechoslovakia, and the communist state there, was particularly well drawn. Even having Laure meet Peter again years later was so cleverly done. Also, so informative. I knew about East Germany, I did not know how bad it was in Czechoslovakia.

Elizabeth Buchan is an amazing writer and I have been reading her with great pleasure for many years. Such a relief she is still writing, and writing so well! Personally, I found the weakest part of the plotting and characterisation the young Laure and her relationship with Tomas. It was a little conventional, the rebel musician railing against the establishment.

I took a while to get into this book and found it difficult to warm to the characters. A Museum of Broken Promises is a a strange concept and I struggled to believe that it would ever exist in real life. However, I stuck with the story and really enjoyed it by the time I finished. I learned a lot about Prague and the communist era there. It made me want to visit the city!

Laure Carlyle is the curator of her own brain child – The Museum of Lost Promises. She has set it up in Paris on a shoestring, but it is likely that it will shortly after years of development reach the prominence to finally be financially secure. A few of the exhibits are permanent; others are selected by Laure from those offered for display on the understanding that the deposition will be temporary and then removed or destroyed. The displays often trip a strong emotional response from visitors – Laure thinks that this might be therapeutic.
A young American journalist, May, wants to write a major article on the Museum and its ethos – but will become increasingly interested in focusing on Laure and her past life. This will lead Laure to deeper contemplation of her past and its impact into her present.
Her past forms the greater part of this novel with reader understanding gradually evolving through the telling of the tale. As a twenty year old, in 1986, she took a job as au pair to the Kobes family, Czechs initially living in Paris before returning to Prague. In Prague she will meet and fall in love with Tomas who is a musician in alternative group Anatomie, but with links to a marionette theatre. Laure will become involved with the group. But in the years after the “soft revolution” Prague is still a heavily regulated place controlled by Communists and many people are undercover agents and informers for the State. It may be hard to tell who can be trusted.
Without giving away the plot, one can say that Laure is warned of the constraints necessary for her safety and that of her new political friends and the risks of her behaviour to friends, herself and her employers too. But she does not understand the nature and extent of extreme totalitarian State control and trips a number of increasingly violent incidents. It will become essential for her safety that she – a foreigner - leaves. Tomas, the love of her life, will remain. Her employer Petr, it becomes apparent, informs for the state, but his ability to protect himself, his family and Laure is limited.
Petr and Laure will meet again in 1996 in the newly unified Berlin – Laure is a “cultural attaché” at the British embassy, Petr the CEO of a major company in the newly “democratic” eastern bloc. Laure is trying to find out what happened to Tomas. They will thrash out their back lives, their perspectives and attach blame for what went wrong. Forgiveness does not seem to be possible. Leaving Berlin Laure, still bitter, will move on to the creation of her Museum.
By the time of the novel’s denouement she will have come to recognise that people’s views of “broken promises” are not as straightforward as one might imagine. There might be more than one perspective of an incident (or promise) and with time these might mature and change. The balance of “fault” and “guilty” might also need to be reviewed or re-balanced. Her Museum, too, by allowing people to express their distress about an incident or happening can allow them to let go and move on to a happier place.
Buchan is an extremely fine, seemingly effortless, storyteller and here she melds the deeply personal with serious political issues and realities that some people did, and do, face. She can build an evocative sense of place, emotions and deeper anxieties and fears well. So this is an excellent read. Particularly if you are inclined to look back to a place of inexperienced youth and are prepared to take a “love story” with bite.

First of all, I do have to point out that the copy sent to my kindle was appalling. The paragraphing was out and conversations often were not placed on separate lines. The formatting was askew. This is unfair to reviewers. The novel deserves better as does the author.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It takes place in Prague still under communist rule in 1986, Berlin during the 1990s as businesses in Czechoslovakia rebuild, and in Paris today. Laure, Tomas, and Petr form a fascinating triangle, two of them in love and the third Laure’s communist employer. Al the characterisation in the novel is excellent, and all have interesting stories. The scene-setting especially those scenes involving the young revolutionaries in Prague during that period leading up to the fall of European communism is brilliantly depicted and atmospheric. It has echoes of The Lives of Others. The book’s very human theme aptly contains the sense of the longing for individual freedom that makes its characters risk all for their goal and also the importance of closure after a personal tragedy. 'What I think is...what I think is that people are not talking politics but they're thinking and feeling it with their bodies.'
Notable is the museum Laure establishes in Paris reflecting the loss in ordinary lives. 'Donating to the Museum of Broken Promises, where the objects are treated with care and reverence and a little humour, can open up the healing process.'
It is a thrilling story. The Museum of Broken Promises is extremely well constructed and beautifully written. I especially liked the puppet theatre in Prague and the scenes portraying Laure’s daily life both in Prague and in Paris. The book contains a poignant and heartbreaking love story. Its resonance lingers long after the final page is turned. I highly recommend it.

really enjoyed this book. read it in a day. good story line and lots of good characters.look forward to reading more from this author.

This book by Elizabeth Buchan is a great read. It is set in two time periods, Prague in 1985 at the time of the Cold War and contemporary Paris.
Laure has established the museum of the title with a collection of donated items. During the story some of these are touched on, each though represents a situation where a promise has been made but not kept.
The main story though is about Laure, what happened to her in Prague and how that has impacted on her life to date.
There are wonderful insights into life in Prague in 1985 and the difficulties of living in a police state. They made me realise how unaware I was at that time.
The story itself is well written the characters appealing and the locations well described. There are moments of real tension, of sadness and of relief when things work out.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can highly recommend it.

The Museum of Broken Promises
Elizabeth Buchan
Publishers: Corvus
Publication Date 5/9/19

Set in present day Paris and 1985 Prague this is a beautiful story of love, loss and broken dreams. Well researched and plotted with strong characterisation and a
fitting ending,, I also learned a lot about communist Prague and the Velvet Revolution.
Highly recommended.

My thanks to Netgalley, Corvus and the author for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

I have read books by Elizabeth Buchan before and this is quite different but equally well written. I found the book was somewhat slow initially to get into but developed and was quite intense. It gives the reader an insight into the murky, repressed , brutal world of Prague in the 1980s which is so unlike our own. It is certainly a book that will stay with the reader long after it is finished and make one appreciate living in the west.

Well worth reading

From the moment I walked into the Museum of Broken Promises, I had a feeling it was going to be good. A place of wonder and lives lived. There are pieces here, 'fragments of lives that have not gone according to plan'. It's through one of these items that Laure, the narrator of this journey and curator of the museum starts this tale.....

Laure Carlyle works as an au pair for the Kobe family in Paris. When they move to Communist Czechoslovakia, life changes beyond all recognition. Laure finds the new regime scary and very regimented. No one trusts her since she is both a newcomer and an outsider. These are dangerous times and people like her are the enemy. Laure herself finds someone close to her working for the very party she and others fear.

Prague before the Velvet Revolution is a fascinating. The city and the country before it becomes Czechoslovakia is a very different yet interesting place to be. Going back in time through Laure's eyes is both sad yet encouraging when it comes to a love affair. This story is then woven into the present day Paris storyline and it soon builds into a swirling image which at first blurred and then becomes a mix of history and secrets. There's snippets of Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall too and this adds to the overall ' before and after' picture. The 'What if's', the looking back and making sense of what has come before.

The two timelines and flashbacks  are the perfect way to tell such a story. How one person, one time and place, one country, one regime can have such an effect on everything else. During the travels back and forth in time, the history becomes the  story and the story the history. Changes happen, meetings take place, regimes crack and fall. Surveillance of individuals seems to grow. Pretty apt when you think about the present day.

The whole idea of broken promises, regrets, hopes and human fears and a museum to hold them all in, was really poignant and was the perfect vehicle to showcase the emerging romance and historical immersion.

The author includes a fascinating bibliography too which makes this museum seem all the more real and its time in history that bit more significant.

Wonderful book and one to savour.

A simply superb read which is beautifully written and crafted; it has effortlessly made its way onto my list of the top books of 2019. This is a novel that I will be pressing on all my bookish friends, it is a story of love and loss, communism and capitalism and promises made and broken.

Primarily set in Prague in 1986, just a few years before the fall of the communist regime, the protagonist, young and naïve, Laure is an au pair for a family in favour with the current establishment. She meets and falls in love with Tomas, a musician and a dissident. This leads to her becoming a ‘person of interest’ with the authorities and a concern for the family for whom she works. The author has created brilliantly the atmosphere of the city and the haunted mood of its citizens.

The narrative moves between the past and the present where Laure is now the curator of the Museum of Broken Promises in Paris which houses objects which represent an act of betrayal. One of these objects is Laure’s. We know from the very outset that Tomas did not escape from Prague and he and Laure were never together. As the story progresses we understand what has happened between now and then.

Reading this novel was such an emotional experience. I was completely invested in the story of Laure and Tomas and in the lives of the characters who surround them. The metaphorical use of a cast of marionettes was an artful touch. A masterful work which I would highly, very highly, recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Corvus Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautifully written love story set in Prague during the last years of the communist regime, but yet it is so much more than that. The story begins slowly but gathers pace and keeps hold of you right to the end. It tells the story of a young naïve English girl, Laure, her relationship with Tomas and also her relationship with her employer Petr and his family. Tomas is a musician, a puppeteer and a dissident. Petr works for the Communist Party. The story shifts between present day Paris, Prague in 1986 and Berlin after the Wall. We witness Laure as over the years she grows into a strong independent woman running The Museum of Broken Promises. I really enjoyed learning about the latter days of communism, the velvet revolution and also about marionettes. I'd recommend this book and think it would make a great book club read. Enjoy!
Thank-you NetGalley and Corvus for an advance copy.

Thank you to netgalley.co.uk for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I run a book club online with over 2000 members and I will be putting this on our bookclub list for sure! I really enjoyed the story and I think our members will too!

Wow! It's been a while since a book made such a deep impact! This one totally blew me away and will stay with me for a long time.
Covering present day Paris, Prague behind the Iron Curtain and Berlin after The Wall came down, this is substance combined with delight.

Laure is the curator of the Museum of Broken Promises. A wonderful space in Paris cramped with 'fragments of lives that have not gone according to plan'. One of the objects is a piece of her own life which leads the reader to Prague and Laure's experience with communism in her early twenties.
We move back and forth between cities, getting to know the young woman she was and how she became the strong woman she is. Also included are parts of her time in Berlin, facing the result of a collapsed regime in a country trying to pick up the pieces.
Having visited these cities myself, both before and after the fall of communism, I can honestly say the mood in this book is so accurate it took me right back.

'The Museum of Broken Promises' is one of a kind.
A pageturner filled with indepth characters set in an impressive environment. An absolute must read!

Thank you Netgalley and Corvus for the ARC.

The non-linear narrative creates a sense of mystery, which is entwined with betrayal, sadness and pain. A journey through Europe and the pain of a women. Wonderfully written. Beautifully crafted.

An interesting story. This is a slow starter that becomes intriguing and compelling reading. It is beautifully written the whole way through.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I've read all of the author's books, so was keen to read this one. I took a while to get into the storyline, but once I did I found it compulsive reading. Set between 1986 Prague and now in Paris the story of Laure's earlier life unfolds.