Bitmo Sunday book review

Sunday Book Review – Lovers at the Museum: A Short Story by Isabel Allende

Published on by dgkaye

This short book of only 25 pages was a free read offered to me from First Reads on Amazon. It’s a whimsical and bizarre love story by Isabel Allende – Lovers at the Museum: A Short Story

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Blurb:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wind Knows My Name comes a mesmerizing tale of two passionate souls who share one magical night that defies all rational explanation.

Love, be it wild or tender, often defies logic. In fact, at times, the only rationale behind the instant connection of two souls is plain magic.

Bibiña Aranda, runaway bride, wakes up in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao still wearing her wedding dress, draped in the loving arms of a naked man whose name she doesn’t know. She and the man with no clothes, Indar Zubieta, attempt to explain to the authorities how they got there. It’s a story of love at first sight and experience beyond compare, one that involves a dreamlike journey through the museum.

But the lovers’ transcendent night bears no resemblance to the crude one Detective Larramendi attempts to reconstruct. And no amount of fantastical descriptions can convince the irritated inspector of the truth.

Allende’s dreamy short story has the power to transport readers in any language, leaving them to ponder the wonders of love long after the story’s over.

My 4 Star Review:

This was a very short story of twenty-five pages. It read like a fantasy of one magical night in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilboa, Spain. The circumstances about how these two people who only just met, were surely fantastical because the girl, Bibina, fled her wedding ceremony. In the pouring rain, a complete stranger she made eye contact with whisks her away into the museum for shelter.

The detective who found them both passed out cold and their bodies entwined, shook them awake and questioned them as to how these people were able to get into a locked museum with high tech security systems, undetected. But when taken into the police station and questioned individually, they both described the whole event from their meeting to their instant love attraction to one another with the same details told by both of them. The whole situation is a big mystery for the detective, more concerned about how they got into the museum, while for the lovers, it was one magical night.

This whimsical story has no real beginning or ending – or conclusion; but a brief fantastical interlude of escapism for readers, magical romance for the lovers, and a great mystery to one detective.

©DGKaye2024

77 thoughts on “Sunday Book Review – Lovers at the Museum: A Short Story by Isabel Allende”

  6. I love Isabel Allende’s writing, although I’ve mostly read her in Spanish and novels (a collection of short stories once, many years back, I seem to remember). I will have to check this one, Debby. Enjoy the new week.

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    2. Hi Olga. I just wanted to let you know that I finished The Fox Wife based on your review. It was wonderful. (Your comments had closed, so I’m taking the opportunity to tell you on Debby’s site. ❤ ) Thanks for the recommendation.

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  10. Fantasy and whimsy allows license to go in many directions, but I also like stories that retain some sense of plausibility. This one might not be the right fit for me.

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  11. I always wonder why a big name author chooses to write a novelette or in this case a short story. Your review leads me to believe it was entertaining and I guess that would be the whole reason. Thanks for your lovely review.

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  14. Isabel Allende is one of my favorite writers. I recently read her wonderful novel The Japanese Lover. She does seem to write a lot about mysterious/secret lovers. Thanks for this review, Debby.

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    1. Hi Michael. Thanks for dropping by. I’m glad you enjoyed my review for this intriguing short story. Happy new week to you too my friend. Hugs xx

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  24. Hi Debby – it sounds a delightful, fascinating and as you say whimsical story … I’ll definitely keep an eye out for it – cheers Hilary

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  25. This little book sounds very unique. Nice to read your review of it, Deb, as always. I’m not a huge fan of Allende but this sounds intriguing. I know. I just admitted that! And now I’m feeling sheepish. I wanted so much to love her novel House of Spirits, I think it was called, but found it a bit dry and not what I had expected from all the hype of her work.

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    1. Hi Lisa. Thanks for dropping by. This book was definitely different, and never apologize for your opinion. I read another book by Allende (can’t remember which one), and was a bit disappointed myself. Hugs xx

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  27. Thanks Debs. Not sure…but intrigued! I read a few of Allende’s books way back and enjoyed them very much…BUT? I’ll probably succumb. Love usually wins. xxx

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