The Museum of Ordinary People – review (AD)
I was kindly given an electronic copy of The Museum of Ordinary People by Mike Gayle in exchange for an honest review*.
The Museum of Ordinary People book blurb
Still reeling from the sudden death of her mother, Jess is about to do the hardest thing she’s ever done: empty her childhood home so that it can be sold.
But when in the process Jess stumbles across the mysterious Alex, together they become custodians of a strange archive of letters, photographs, curios and collections known as The Museum of Ordinary People.
As they begin to delve into the history of the objects in their care, Alex and Jess not only unravel heartbreaking stories that span generations and continents, but also unearth long buried secrets that lie much closer to home.
Inspired by a box of mementos found abandoned in a skip following a house clearance, The Museum of Ordinary People is a thought-provoking and poignant story of memory, grief, loss and the things we leave behind.
My overall thoughts on the Museum of Ordinary People
I thoroughly enjoyed The Museum of Ordinary People and Mike Gayle’s writing style.
Jess Baxter is grieving for the sudden loss of her much loved mother.
She takes on the heart-breaking task of clearing out her childhood home by herself and due to a lack of space in her London flat she can only keep a few mementos including a set of encyclopaedias which became an aim high symbol of her mother’s hopes and dreams for Jess.
One year on, her boyfriend Guy wants her clutter gone so they can sell the flat and buy a house together.
Her best friend Luce stumbles across somewhere for Jess to take her encyclopaedias that will look after them for her the “Museum of Ordinary People “ in Peckham (sadly no Delboy.
So Jess jumps on the tube and with her bag of encyclopaedias to the museum which is amazing and full of everyday things that are special to someone for a variety of reasons.
But there’s a catch – the founder has died and the new owner is wanting to sell up.
Jess manages to persuades new owner Alex to let her curate and rebrand this Aladdin‘s Cave and reopen the museum to the public.
There is so much emotion in this book – Jess dealing with her grief, her relationship issues, Alex and the death of his parents and his scars from the fire and much more (trying not to give away spoilers).
The premise and the concept of the museum is simple but genius I think we all have a priceless treasure we would love to keep but can’t always for one reason or another.
Some of the items have a superb backstory which just goes to prove the need for a museum like this.
The characters are lovely (not a huge fan of Guy) there’s humour, love and affection between them.
The friendship, kindness and love shown to Jess just when she needs it most warms your heart.
The storyline evolves well, there are ups and downs, some convolutions, some deceptions and the impact of it but it’s the warmth that shines through.
In places it’s sad but it’s also uplifting, it’s poignant, grief is not linear and much of this story will resonate with people.
With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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*Disclaimer
This review has been written with 100% honesty.
I was not financially compensated for this post. I was given an advance copy of this book for review purposes. The opinions expressed in this post are completely my own based on my own experience.
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