An epistolary novel - done well - appeals to my liking for order and neatness. The form involves a degree of focus, often on a smallish scale; it invites the succinct making of a point and a coherent response; it requires the development of a theme or a line of plot in a rhythmic and cohesive manner, and if all those strands are held together with the right degree of tension, the weave of the story is smooth and the pattern of the finished piece is pleasing.
Anne Youngson's debut Meet me at the Museum shows she has mastered the skills. It's a quiet book, a picture of middle life in muted colours, a study of how we come to know ourselves through our own narratives. I found it engaging, moving, and satisfying, and I was sorry to reach the final page.
Tina is an East Anglian farmer's wife. The death of her great friend Bella prompts her to write to a Danish archaeologist with whom she and her schoolfriends corresponded about the Tollund Man some fifty years earlier. She is preoccupied with "plans never fulfilled" - specifically but not exclusively the wish she shared with Bella to visit the Silkeborg Museum to see the famous bog man. She writes to make sense of her thoughts, to try to move forward after many years of being held back. In truth she doesn't expect a reply.
The archaeologist, it turns out, is long dead, but Anders the museum curator writes back to Tina. He patiently answers her factual questions, and she responds with more about the history of her intention to visit Silkeborg and the exhibit, but perhaps because her correspondent is a stranger she is unlikely to meet she is unusually frank, confiding details of her "buried" life, bogged down on the farm, an existence which circumstances had forced her into accepting. Anders in turn reveals his own sadness and regrets, and as their letters move them further from the general and the impersonal, their correspondence nurtures an intimacy, an organic relationship which grows in value to surprise them both.
As they write to one another Tina and Anders try to make order out of chaos, consider chance and fate and choice, and how the past has led to the present. As Tina says, "I thought I knew where [my life] was roughly darned and where neatly patched, but despite all the flaws in the fabric, I believed in the essential wholeness of it"; as an unravelling occurs so there will be a reworking, a making new.
A touching book, beautifully, intelligently written, profound in its way. I look forward to seeing what Anne Youngson does next.
I really enjoy well written epistolary novels. This is one I'll be looking out for. Thanks for highlighting it!
Posted by: Pam | 05 June 2018 at 03:37 PM
You're welcome, Pam.
Posted by: Cornflower | 05 June 2018 at 03:50 PM
Lovely to see you back, Karen...I've been thinking of you.
Posted by: Cosy Books | 05 June 2018 at 11:05 PM
Thank you, Darlene.
Posted by: Cornflower | 06 June 2018 at 08:35 AM
Often what you like I like too; immediately checked the library catalogue to find this is on order already. My day is brighter for seeing you post again, a welcome return.
Posted by: Fran | 06 June 2018 at 09:34 AM
Thank you so much, Fran.
Posted by: Cornflower | 06 June 2018 at 09:59 AM
I'm so sorry about your father. I am also glad to have found your blog--several books going on my TBR now.
Posted by: Lisa of Hopewelll's Public Library of Life | 06 June 2018 at 04:27 PM
So happy that you are back Karen. Have really missed you.
Wilma
Posted by: Wilma | 06 June 2018 at 05:18 PM
I hope you'll enjoy them when they reach the top of the pile, Lisa! Many thanks.
Posted by: Cornflower | 06 June 2018 at 06:43 PM
That's very kind, Wilma - I am glad to be back!
Posted by: Cornflower | 06 June 2018 at 06:43 PM
So lovely to read a review from you, Karen – I hope you are bearing up. I read about this book a while ago and your review has prompted me to add it to my wishlist. Take care x
Posted by: Sam | 07 June 2018 at 04:35 PM
It's nice to be back, Sam, and thank you for your kind words x
Posted by: Cornflower | 07 June 2018 at 05:21 PM
Lovely to see you back with some wonderful looking books as well! More for the library reserve list and TBR pile.
Posted by: Alexandra Macgregor | 12 June 2018 at 07:05 AM
Ah, the ever-growing piles!
Posted by: Cornflower | 12 June 2018 at 09:21 AM
I just finished this book and came back to read your review. Beautifully done! My review will be up on Monday.
Posted by: Lisa of Hopewell | 28 February 2019 at 06:52 PM
Thank you for letting us know, Lisa.
Posted by: Cornflower | 01 March 2019 at 08:16 AM