Meet me at the museum

Tina Hopgood lives a life of routine on her family's English farm. Surrounded by others yet feeling utterly alone, she wonders how her life could have ended up differently. After she loses her best friend, Tina writes to a museum regarding an artifact that was important to her decades earlier. Danish professor Anders Larsen, who leads a quiet life after his wife's death, receives the letter and decides to respond. Neither party expected a reply, let alone to make a connection that would open them back up to a world of possibilities. Told through a series of letters, Youngson's debut follows Tina and Anders' journey of discovering something that was missing from their lives, thoughtfully revealing their emotions of the present and reflections on the past. The book's slower pace and attention to detail match the patient process of letter writing, too. Through each new letter, the story moves forward with ease, feelings of isolation begin to dissipate, and room for hope grows.--Melissa Norstedt Copyright 2018 Booklist

[DEBUT] Trying to get a better understanding of her life, disaffected English farmwife Tina Hopgood writes Professor P.V. Glob, who 50 years previously had dedicated his book The Bog People to her and her classmates after they write him a letter. The professor is long gone, but Anders Larsen, curator at the museum that houses the Tollund Man, among other significant artifacts of the bog people, responds courteously. Thus begins a series of increasingly engaged and engaging emails, as Tina, married to the self-absorbed man who got her pregnant while at school, thus ending her aspirations, struggles to articulate what she wants even as the widowed Anders blossoms with their exchanges. As they move from nicely rendered discussions of archaeology to more personal revelations, particularly about their families, Anders encourages Tina to visit the museum. Clearly, Tina senses there's something more for her in the world, and if she's not quite ready, she's on her way. The book builds quietly but surely to her turning point, which, realistically, is not an explosion but a next solid step. Verdict Luminous, affecting, and delightful, this study of humans, ancient and modern, will please those who want more than thrill-a-minute reading.-Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.