The Museum of Extraordinary Things

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Average customer rating 4.8 (6 comments)

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Set in the early years of the 1900s, Alice Hoffman’s The Museum of Extraordinary Things invites readers to the wonders of Coney Island entertainment and New York city, where garment workers bleed for their craft, and the rich are different. On Coney Island, a young girl grows up believing she’s a freak, and as such, will be destroyed should the world ever find her. But her father makes a living from freaks, so one day, when she’s old enough, she’ll be a part of his show. Meanwhile a young Jewish boy feels that he too doesn’t belong. Leaving the piece-work of the garment factories, he hones his talent for observation, learns to find things, and becomes a photographer, recording the cruelties that lead to unionization and hope. Narration shifts from two first-person protagonists to an omniscient observer and back. History shifts through fire and smoke. And a picture emerges, as if from the photographer’s plate—one mystery resolved, and the mystery of love left to shine. The Museum of Extraordinary Things is a slightly odd, oddly absorbing, and infinitely fascinating novel of a world gone by, yet not so far gone from our own. I really enjoyed it. Disclosure: I bought a copy when I found it on a deal.

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THE MUSEUM OF EXTRAORDINARY THINGS is exceptionally good historical fiction about two people, Eddie and Coralie, with very different backgrounds who find each other and fall in love in early twentieth-century New York. This is not a romance story. Rather, the majority of the book concentrates on each of their lives before they even knew each other, at various times telling of Coralie's life, other times Eddie's, sometimes in first person, other times third person. Coralie is the "deformed" daughter of the owner of Coney Island's Museum of Extraordinary Things, what we would call a freak show. Coralie, herself, is on display as an extraordinary thing because of her webbed fingers. Eddie is a Russian immigrant who came to New York with his father when he was a child. He is good at finding people and is eventually hired by a man to locate his daughter. When Eddie finds her dead body, the man again hires him to solve the mystery of who did it and why. In the process, their two lives, Eddie's and Coralie's, come together. So, more than a story of Eddie's and Coralie's love for each other, this book is the story of Coralie's life as a prisoner of evil and the story of Eddie's life as both a finder and a photographer. Editorial: Thank goodness for Coralie Eddie found her.

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A story of exploitation, broken trust, secrets and changes to come, memorable and unique A very unusual book, told from two main sources. Yes, there is a museum and it is fascinating, but there are dark secrets hidden here. The museum is owned by a refugee who lives alone on Coney Island with his young daughter, who tells one part of the story, and a housekeeper. Both are called monsters, though they are the most caring in the story. The girl is very young at the beginning of her story, and one hundred percent under the control of her father, though she is not aware of it. Nor is she aware of what his plan for her future is. The second storyteller is an Orthodox Jew, a refugee from the Ukraine who lives with his father and both work in the textile mills in Boston. A young boy on the verge of rebellion at the beginning. He renounces his faith when he believes his father tried to commit suicide. It is a time in New York when men were in charge and women were treated as possessions, a time when class distinction was not only strongly defined but often corrupt and hidden crime was rampant, a time when 'hired' help was more often than not mistreated. Also a time of workhouses where children and women were forced to work for a pittance and often accidents occurred. Such is the case when a fire breaks out while the workers are locked within. You thought this happened only in other countries? Murders and assaults occur while eyes remain closed. This is New York in the 1800s and early 1900s. Manhattan was not much more than a swamp at certain times of the year. Coney Island was just becoming the famous park and beach it would one day be. For the boy who renounced his faith he has found beauty in nature. For the girl living at the museum, she has found horror. Will the two ever be able to find each other in time? Through all the brutality of the times, this story is beautiful in many ways. It flows between two sides, much like the Hudson River, featured so often in the story and integral to it in many ways. It is a story of betrayal, but also a love story of two storytellers. There is connection between many of the characters, and the spark of life, love and humanity exists and blooms against all odds. Alice Hoffman has not only captured the essence of early New York, she has integrated two historical events seamlessly, and recreated the crises so vividly you can almost feel the heat. Though the characters are fictional, the events are real. This is a wonderful story of compassion within a nightmare world. This story I will carry with me for a long time. Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Both rating and review are my own perception of the book.

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The lush prose and exquisitely nuanced characters make their own worthy arguments for readers to treasure this novel. But it is Hoffman's use of history that enlarges the story to a level I consider both irresistible and important. With heartbreaking vividness, this masterful writer reminds us that the tragedy of the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, and its complicated aftermath, truly changed the course of all of our lives.

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This was my first Alice Hoffman book but it will not be my last. The Museum of Extraordinary Things is a tale of the human spirit, the limits it can be pushed to, and the simple, beautiful things that bring it back to life. OK, it’s about more than that. Hoffman captures the essence of 1911 New York from the working person’s point of view, using characters that were considered the outcasts of the mainstream. Coralie, born to the life of the ‘freak show’, doesn’t really see her coworkers as people first. Maureen, her constant companion and the all-around maid of the house, has been scarred by acid many years ago. the Wolfman, Mr. Morris, is well-read and a proper gentleman at all times, except when doing his daily show for the Museum of Extraordinary Things, at which sits in a cage and growls at the paying crowds. The Museum was also filled with other odd things such as rare birds and insects, and taxidermied beasts (Professor Sardie may have modified with big wolf or shark teeth). I was fascinated by Coralie’s life. At first, she is simple, having been told a simple, but beautiful, story of her dead mother and how her father and her came from France to New York. Coralie’s mild deformity is a gift, one that allows her to entrance the public and her father puts it to good use. However, as the story moves forward and Coralie starts to push against her father’s rules, she starts to see him as the egotistical control freak that he is. The Museum slowly changes from a place of wonder and magic to a place of oppression as Professor Sardie squeezes every coin he can from his workers, his creations, and the public. It took me longer to warm up to Eddie. Perhaps I didn’t immediately see the charm in this young man who severed himself from his emotions at such a young age. In many ways, he is a man of two worlds. He sees, vaguely and always in the distance, what life could have been for his father and himself �" both pursuing the scholarly Jewish life. On another path, he could have stayed with his father, stayed in the Jewish quarter, and stayed working at the clothing factory. But he had to walk away from that life too. He found magic and beauty in photography and was lucky enough to find a mentor willing to teach him. He is a full photographer when the historical Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire occurs. I had not heard about this factory fire before reading this book, even though the aftermath of this event was instrumental in setting safety standards for workers. It was described so well, raising the hairs on the back of my neck. This event and other historical bits from the time were effortlessly woven into the storyline. Out of this also comes a murder mystery which made for an interesting side plot. The ending was horrific, terrifying, filled with hope, and satisfying. Deeply satisfying. I was horrified by the tragedy that wraps up this tale (I’ll leave that for you to discover). I was terrified that my two lead characters may not make it out alive. I had also become attached to Maureen, Mr. Morris, the tortoise, and Mitts (Eddie’s pitbull). How would they all make it out of this book alive, healthy, sane? But there was hope as these characters rallied together, along with other side characters. And the ending gave me great satisfaction as I felt the main evil doers got some decent payback.

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Dear Reader's, this is my first Alice Hoffman book I've read and I assure you it won't be the last. It's takes place near Coney Island, in a little combination house and Museum showing weird and unusual things and people, some real and some fake. The man who runs the place, lives with his daughter and maid, nanny, and order taker. This book is a non-stop read until end. I'm now a fan of Alice Hoffman books. What took me so long!