Why a Booktrail?
1985, 2000s: Every object in the Museum of Broken Promises represents a moment of grief or terrible betrayal.
The Museum of Broken Promises
What you need to know before your trail
Paris, today. The Museum of Broken Promises is a place of wonder and sadness, hope and loss. Every object in the museum has been donated – a cake tin, a wedding veil, a baby’s shoe. And each represent a moment of grief or terrible betrayal. The museum is a place where people come to speak to the ghosts of the past and, sometimes, to lay them to rest. Laure, the owner and curator, has also hidden artefacts from her own painful youth amongst the objects on display.
Prague, 1985. Recovering from the sudden death of her father, Laure flees to Prague. But life behind the Iron Curtain is a complex thing: drab and grey yet charged with danger. Laure cannot begin to comprehend the dark, political currents that run beneath the surface of this communist city. Until, that is, she meets a young dissident musician. Her love for him will have terrible and unforeseen consequences.
It is only years later, having created the museum, that Laure can finally face up to her past and celebrate the passionate love which has directed her life.
Locations
Reset- Czecslovakia (as was) - Prague
- E: Museum of Communism
- F: Malá Strana
- G: Vltava River
- H: Old Town Square
- I: Wenceslas Square
- Germany - Berlin
- J: Alexanderplatz
- K: Jüdenstraße
- L: Tränenpalast
Travel Guide
Travel back BookTrail style through the darkest periods of Paris, Prague and Berlin
The Museum of Broken Promises
A fictional place but one inspired by the Museum of Communism in Prague. She says that that one visit sparked the idea and feel for the entire novel. Today it is housed in a smart glass building but once all objects were housed in a couple of rooms. They left an ‘indelible mark’ on her she says in her author note and especially the black telephone in the small cell which rang when you stepped inside…..
The novel is largely based in Prague and the historical events which took place over the course of many years.
Paris – the Museum is located in the Saint Martin area of the city and is sadly fictional. But imagine wandering the streets and trying to find it? Many of the streets in and around the famous Canal St Martin have been invented for the novel.
Berlin – Barnaby of www.insidertour.com provided much of the inspiration for the Berlin section of the novel.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Museum of Broken Promises
Destination : Berlin, Paris, Prague Author/Guide: Elizabeth Buchan Departure Time: 1986, 2000s
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