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    The Museum of Extraordinary Things: A Novel
    The Museum of Extraordinary Things: A Novel
    The Museum of Extraordinary Things: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Museum of Extraordinary Things: A Novel

    Written by Alice Hoffman

    Narrated by Judith Light, Grace Gummer and Zach Appelman

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    About this audiobook

    The “spellbinding” (People, 4 stars), New York Times bestseller from the author of The Dovekeepers: an extraordinary novel about an electric and impassioned love affair—“an enchanting love story rich with history and a sense of place” (USA TODAY).

    Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the sinister impresario behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island freak show that thrills the masses. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father’s “museum,” alongside performers like the Wolfman and the Butterfly Girl. One night Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man taking pictures of moonlit trees in the woods off the Hudson River.

    The dashing photographer is Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his community and his job as a tailor’s apprentice. When Eddie photographs the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes embroiled in the mystery behind a young woman’s disappearance. And he ignites the heart of Coralie.

    Alice Hoffman weaves her trademark magic, romance, and masterful storytelling to unite Coralie and Eddie in a tender and moving story of young love in tumultuous times. The Museum of Extraordinary Things is, “a lavish tale about strange yet sympathetic people” (The New York Times Book Review).
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateFeb 18, 2014
    ISBN9781442367623
    Author

    Alice Hoffman

    Alice Hoffman is the author of more than thirty works of fiction, including The Book of Magic, Magic Lessons, The World That We Knew, Practical Magic, The Rules of Magic (a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick), the Oprah’s Book Club Selection Here on Earth, The Red Garden, The Dovekeepers, The Museum of Extraordinary Things, The Marriage of Opposites, and Faithful. She lives near Boston.

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    Reviews for The Museum of Extraordinary Things

    4/5

    190 ratings81 reviews

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    • 2/5
      A huge disappointment.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is a book for people who love the eclectic. It is a whimsical recipe of things dark, romantic, curious, and adventuresome. I loved it so much, I made a Pinterest board of it, using images that were similar to the way the book made me feel. There is some dark content for sure, but it leaves a mark, and I feel a fuller person having read this novel.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I enjoyed the story - however I wish I would have read this instead of listening to the audiobook in the car - the narriation was awful. It was rushed and the narrator would try (and fail) to do various voices for the characters but she really did not have any talent for that - really ruined the experience for me. The book has 3 narriators and the lady who reads for Coralee and the gentleman who reads for Eddie did a wonderful job...the narrator was not good.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is a lovely book. It starts out in a creepy museum where a young girl is growing up, and where she is being groomed by the man she calls her father to be a sideshow exhibit, a real-life mermaid. She is kept isolated from the world as much as possible, and learns about the outside world mostly through the many bizarre things displayed in the museum. This story takes place in the years leading up to the terrible fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, where many women and girls were burned alive because they were locked into the room where they worked. As the girl in the museum grows older, she encounters a young man and falls in love from afar. The young man works as a sort of private detective, finding lost things and people, and when he is hired to find a girl who is missing after the fire, his investigation leads him to the girl in the museum.

      While this book is built around a love story, it is historical and literary fiction, far more than a romance (though my misguided local library added a 'romance' sticker to the spine of the copy I read). This novel weaves together the love story with the story of the museum and of Coney Island more generally, along with a thread about the Jewish community in New York City, and of course the thread about the Triangle Fire. If you like historical fiction, or if you enjoyed Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and/or The Night Circus, you'll probably enjoy this book too.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      On one hand, I ended up really enjoying this, but on the other, I also wanted something more. The history enmeshed in the book slowed it down a bit for me, and left me wishing that I could feel closer to the characters enmeshed in the setting. As beautifully as Hoffman depicted the times and the city of New York as it was, it pulled me a bit too far into history. For someone who reads more historical fiction, and wasn't so pulled to this because of their enjoyment of Hoffman's earlier work, this may not be an issue at all -- but, for me, I was left wanting more. In the last third, I couldn't put the book down, I was so wrapped up, but it took far longer to get to that point than I would have expected from her work and, honestly, it then ended too quickly for me.So, all told... yes, I truly enjoyed it, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it; in fact, I already have. But, I also think long-time fans of Hoffman's work will find that this one falls somewhat flat in comparison, or comes across as too weighed down with setting and somewhat rushed, rather than being so magical as her work normally is.
    • 1/5
      Could not finish. Too depressing.
    • 5/5
      I am a sucker for books set in NYC especially in 1880-1920s. Especially happy when they are well written and tell an interesting story. So happy my friend Carol lent this one to me!!
    • 3/5
      Set in New York in the early 1900s, Coralie is the daughter of the unscrupulous proprietor of the Museum of Extraordinary Things in Coney Island, where “oddities” are displayed, such as used to be found in circus sideshows. Coralie was born with webbed hands, and she becomes one of her father’s exhibits. Eddie is a photographer who immigrated from Russia and has become estranged from his father. He investigates the (real) 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, in which one hundred forty-six workers died. His storyline and that of Coralie eventually converge.

      This book is a mixed bag for me. It starts out well. I liked the historical elements, which are realistically described. The period details provide a sense of time and place. However, the independent storylines, filled with mostly unlikeable people, take a very long time to come together. The love story is far-fetched. It occurs instantly and the two spend very little time together, so there is no depth to their attraction. The father-daughter relationship is horrifying. The ending is preposterous.
    • 5/5

      I am a sucker for a book that begins and ends with true historical events, in this case the Triangle Factory fire and the Dreamland park fire. Add to that the fact that Hoffman tells the story from the perspectives of two complex, likable, flawed chapters, and I found it a striking winner. This novel is a brilliant work that can be described most succinctly as a study in the way people can be surprising in both their cruelty and kindness. In this, Hoffman has created a true work of beauty.

      1911 Brooklyn is the perfect backdrop for this beautifully twisted tale. It has romance, mystery and those wonderful historical facts. It's also a story of extraordinary people in extraordinary times. Hoffman has created in this novel the most diverse groups of characters I've read in a novel in years. (There is someone interesting for nearly every reader's taste. There is a tortoise I somehow even came to care about. Lastly but certainly not least, New York is a major character upon which all the others are hinged.).

      I love the alternating perspectives of Coralie and Eddie, both lost souls with special gifts. She has amazing abilities in water and he has the gift to find people. I also love the building sense of unease as the plot develops. I wouldn't call this suspense or thriller, but there's a definite momentum moving this story. Mostly I love Hoffman's attention to detail. She never disappoints. And did I mention the human "oddities"? I'm a sucker for those too.

      Most characters suffer in quiet desperation and are not always likable but it doesn't matter because they are compelling and believable. Few characters in this novel live a normal existence. Hoffman even manages to make this possible without sounding angst-ridden.

      I can't even find critical flaws except that the dialogue is almost too perfect. The italicized thoughts are poetic and have deep meaning- everyone feels profoundly but somehow it still doesn't seem overdone. Hoffman is a marvelous mystery. Sort of like the best scenes in TV or movies...you wish you could be that sharp and witty in real life, always ready with a quick reply.

      I recommend the crap out of this book, for all the aforementioned reasons as well as it's a truly entertaining and well-plotted story with excellent pacing. And one brilliant ending. 5 stars.



    • 2/5
      2.5

      This really looks and sounds like my kind of book. I did like some things, but it never really grabbed my attention and held on. It moved slowly at times, and maybe I was a little distracted while reading and didn't connect as well as needed. When I felt something it was mostly down feelings. There's not much in the hope and happiness side to level out the sadness and depression vibe. I wanted Coralie to stand up for herself WAY before she finally made the decision. I was actually able to empathize with Eddie a lot more. There wasn't anyone that really stood out to me as a character that I loved. I think I would have liked to know the Wolfman's story more than the ones given. All I took away from this was a major thankfulness that I wasn't alive during that time period. It must have been hell on earth.
    • 4/5
      I wish that the love story was more incorporated or left out. These characters barely spend any time together, but their love is strong and instant and spell-binding? But I love Hoffman's way of bringing plot points back and making sure everything is important. Some of the pacing is a little finicky, especially in the last fourth, but it left me breathless.
    • 4/5
      I had the honor of receiving this through the Goodreads First Reads. I can't even begin to say how much I enjoyed this story.I was a little deterred at first because a friend of mine from college started reading it, but couldn't finish it. I think she got about half way or so. I can see where that could happen to some people. Fortunately, however, I was not one of those people.

      It was a little slow to start but, for some reason, I was hooked. It was never a book that I "just couldn't put down", but it was something that I wanted to go back to, unlike the last book I read which I finished just to say I finished it. This story was more of a slow burn, unlike the romance within it's pages (once that finally gets going). You really get into the heads of the two focal points of the story.

      Coralie is an odd, though somehow very relateable character, as is Eddy Cohen. They both seem to represent different extremes at different times through out the story, but there's always something there that strikes a chord or has the potential to. Then there's Maureen; the protector, the teacher, the friend, and the maid. She fills so many roles in Cora's life, and adds a bit of a moral dimension to the story. And I can't forget about Mr. Morris, the Wolfman. The bookish man who opens Cora's mind, just like Hochman, Ed's former employer shapes him and opens his eyes (several times), even though he's a bit of a scummy guy. Cora's father, however is a detestable slimeball, although he's very good at hiding it up until she figures him out.

      Everyone has some sort of experience that they can tap into to feel closer to one of the characters at some point. It makes it difficult to place this in any particular genre, actually. Hoffman has created an odd sort of combination of dark fairytale, romance, coming of age story, mystery and historical fiction that, I believe will appeal to many different audiences. I feel like this is a better version of something I read or should have read in one of my courses in college.

      Everything aside, I would recommend this. It's a good book. People should give it a shot. It may surprise them.
    • 4/5
      A good (but not great) historical fiction story set in the early 1900's in New York City. Coralie Sardie lives with her father who is a "scientist/magician" who runs the Museum of Extraordinary Things in Coney Island New York. Coralie's mother is dead but she is cared for by Maureen, the housekeeper who is disfigured because "a former lover" threw acid in her face. Coralie grows up among the individuals who are displayed in the museum: the wolfman, a girl with no arms, jointless twins, etc. Coralie herself as a slight disfigurement in that her hands are webbed. As she grows, her father teaches her to swim in the ocean and she becomes an accomplished and fearless swimmer. Eventually, she is fitted with a mermaid tail and is put on display swimming in a tank for the museum crowd. Along side Coralie's story is the story of Eziekel Cohen, the son of an Orthodox Jew from Russia who comes to America after their village was destroyed and the mother killed. Eziekel goes to work with this father, a tailor, and often sees the abuse his father must endure. Eziekel leans the ways of the street and soon leaves his father, takes the name Eddie and goes to work for a known con man. Eddie has the distinct ability to track people and report to his boss.The book tells alternate stories of Eddie and Coralie. Their direct stories are told in italics (which makes reading a bit more difficult as they are long sections). Coralie eventually learns a horrible truth of her father who eventually puts her on display swimming nude before leering men. Eddie becomes the apprentice of a well-known photographer and learns the art of photography. Intertwined in their stories is much of the story of New York City during this time including the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and the Dreamland Fire on Coney Island which destroyed rides and many rare animals. At times the story became just a bit too weird and almost had a horror quality, and there were a few too many coincidences. That with the lengthy italic sections lowered my rating to a four.
    • 4/5
      Finished this one tonight. I very much enjoyed it. Hoffman's writing is beautiful and descriptive and her storytelling is at once thoughtful and exciting. The era in which the story is set is fascinating and I'm interested to learn more about the historical events depicted in it. While there is pain and tragedy throughout the tale, there is also hope and the triumph of love. Good entertainment!This was my first time reading Alice Hoffman and it certainly won't be the last. I look forward to seeing what other stories she has told.
    • 4/5
      Both my wife and one of my daughters recommended that I read this book and for that I thank them. I almost gave it five stars, but one minor irritant led to its downgrading, of which more anon. The book paints a series of memorable characters from New York and Coney Island in the early days of the twentieth century and sets them against a backdrop of real events in a deftly orchestrated plot. At times the writing is quite stunning, particularly when Ezekiel / Eddie is first drawn to photography and in the sequence immediately after the Triangle Fire. I heartily recommend this book to everyone. (But what of my irritation? Could he really have taken as many photographs with the equipment available to him at the time - he actually bemoans the fact that he cannot afford a "flexible film" camera - this just kept niggling at me as I read it!)
    • 3/5
      Coralie lives in Brooklyn. Her father is a scientist and a magician; he owns the Museum of Extraordinary Things, one of those freak shows popular in the time of PT Barnum. She is part of the show, born with webbed fingers and able to submerge in water for long periods of time. Eddie is an immigrant Jew from Russia, brought up in New York City to be a tailor like his father, but rejecting his heritage to eventually become a photographer. They are brought together in a mystical manner tied up in the history of New York City during this period of time. I usually love Ms. Hoffman's books, but I had a hard time with this one. Part of it was because every other chapter is in italics, hard to read and often containing backstory that slowed the plot down. The other reason was that for most of the book, the characters were unlikable. Throw in a fascination with the first Mrs. Rochester in Jane Eyre, and I had a pretty good idea where the story was going although it seemed to take forever to get there.It does pick up some at the end when Eddie and Coralie finally meet and realize they're in love with each other, but I didn't think this was one of Ms. Hoffman's best works.
    • 3/5
      I had high hopes for this one. The beginning was entertaining, but I quickly lost interest. Maybe it was my ADD kicking in. It failed by 50-page test, so I'm not sure how to rate this since I didn't finish it. It wasn't necessarily bad writing. It could be that I just wasn't in the right mood for this book.
    • 2/5
      I couldn't get into this one. I don't know if it is because of the different fonts for each character or what but I couldn't finish it. but the cover was so pretty that I had to pick it up and try it. too bad it didn't work out.
    • 5/5
      I knew nothing about this book picking it up, and it turned out to be exactly what I needed. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire made a rich historical background that, given our current societal unrest, was especially resonant. Coralie and Eddie are wonderful, compelling characters and while the prose is rich, the plot doesn't lag as it sometimes can in the magical realism genre. My only complaint is that the romance seems glossed over and, given how much I cared about these characters, that was unfortunate. But I suppose wanting more is a good thing, isn't it?
    • 4/5
      A pleasant listen, many threads woven into the story! AND the story has a dog in it, in a positive way! A tale of living with visible and unvisible normbreaking traits, growing to adulthood and how cruel the world can be - and how to heal. Well written historical ambiance, the tragedies of strict gender-norms, and how things were before workers even had a little more rights. I do not fancy stories with many different narrators, so that was a minus on the stars, but the story flows so well, and is so easily listened that it is still worth 4!
    • 4/5
      The Good Stuff Hoffman is truly a poetic and "extraordinary" writer. She is an exceptional storyteller who creates worlds full of ordinary, yet magical characters who stay with you long after you close the book An interesting history lesson woven through the story, yet it never feels like a lesson Loved how Hoffman created characters that others would consider as one dimensional circus freaks, and made them the flesh and blood people that they are My favorites scenes were the ones between Eddie and Beck Each and every character feels real - even the dad who thoroughly disgusted me Exceptional historical research obviously was put into this, Hoffman makes the period come alive and makes you want to learn more - but again it never feels like a history lesson, she just makes history come alive Made me think of Jane Eyre in an entirely new way First chapter hooked me in right away The Not so Good Stuff A tad repetitive about key plot points The scene involving the fire and the animals at Dreamland was very disturbing for this sensitive reader (not a bad thing, just a heads up for other animal lovers like myself). Not to mention the other fire (I know I mentioned the one with the animals before the one with humans - I feel slightly bad too) Insta Love (again not a really bad thing, just a tad irritating) - I still totally cheered for them to have a happy ending Favorite Quotes/Passages "In such great works I found enlightenment and came to understand that everything God creates is a miracle, individually and unto itself.""But the newspapers want violence, retribution, crime, sin. In short, it's hell they're asking for.""If we had no hurt and no sin to speak of, we'd be angels, and angels can't love the way men and women do."4.25 Dewey'sI received this from Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest review
    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved this book, to the point where I procrastinated finishing it because i didn't want it to be over.
    • 4/5
      I knew that men told you the truth for one of two reasons: when they wished to be rid of what they couldn't bear to carry, or when they wished to include you in what they knew so their stories wouldn't be lost. Pg. 274Can an abomination be anything other than a monster? Does being different make one not worthy of a life of love and acceptance? For as long as she can remember, Coralie Sardie has admired God unique creations from afar. Locked behind glass containers and cages, these one of a kind wonders exist as men who resemble animals and animals born with rare traits and oddities. Often misunderstood and abused by the world, they are family and became a source of comfort to Coralie who harbouring a secret of her own has yearnings to be loved and accepted for who she is and not what makes her different. Set against a tumultuous New York city at the turn of the century, a chance encounter with a mysterious man hiding from his own past sets off a series of events that include a murder mystery, civil unrest, class struggles, and ultimately a search for the truth that has evaded her since birth.Alice Hoffman has a gift for creating complex, multi-fauceted, fully fleshed characters that jump off the page into your imagination. The Museum for Extraordinary Things is no exception. Although I didn't completely connect with the characters in comparison to her other books, it did not detract from my enjoyment of the story in the least. The book is an interesting blend of nature's curiosities, the tension and strain of relationships with fathers, and a love line that doesn't really bloom until the last couple of chapters. Overall an engaging reading experience and worthwhile investment. Recommend.
    • 4/5
      Hoffman writes books both for adults and for young adults; sometimes I’m not sure which audience a book is meant for- and I mean that as a good thing. This is one of those books. The two main characters are both young- Coralie is 18 and Eddie not much older- and the book is partly coming of age tale. But, set mainly in 1911 New York, it also features the horrible conditions that factory workers had to deal with every day. The famous Triangle Shirtwaist fire stands so large in the story it is nearly a character itself. Eddie’s story is propelled by the labor conditions; a Russian Orthodox Jew who lost his mother and home in a Cossack attack on the village, he and his tailor father fled to America. Feeling his father is a coward, he runs away from the decrepit room they call home and finds his own way to earn a living, spending some time as an informal investigator, and eventually becoming a photographer. Coralie is brought up by her father and his maid of all work, home schooled and sheltered from the world in the Museum. The museum houses exotic birds, man made hybrids created from parts of various species like those used by P.T. Barnum, and people who are visibly different from the average: an erudite wolf man completely covered with hair, conjoined twins, a girl born without arms, and the like. Coralie is at home with these people but not with everyday society. Coralie’s father has groomed her to be an exhibit in the Museum; she is born with webbed fingers, he trains her from early childhood to stay submerged in cold water for hours at a time. With a large tank and a silk & bamboo mermaid tail, she’s prime entertainment.An accidental meeting leads to instant love for Eddie and Coralie, but her father has other plans for her. Not only is her father not the man she thinks he is, but he’s not a person to take no for an answer. And he’s got a lot to hide. The story switches points of view frequently. Odd numbered chapters are about Coralie, first with a section in first person followed by a section in third person but concentrating on Coralie. Even numbered chapters are told from Eddie’s POV in first person, with a following section in third person. I didn’t have trouble with switching between Coralie and Eddie, but I did find switching from first to third person a little jarring. There were some rough edges working the Triangle fire into the narrative. The author is known for her magical realism, and with a subject like a museum of the unusual, I thoroughly expected to find that here. But there is no real magic in this one; the exhibits are all easily explainable and the Seer is really basically a private investigator. While I liked this book and it’s definitely worth reading, it’s not one of Hoffman’s best.
    • 5/5
      It was a story that wrapped 2 amazing young people around 1911. It was a story of the struggle of a young girl against a domineering father and a young man’s struggle to find himself. It was story of fire and water and how people can pull themselves out of disasters and learn to come to grip with life.
    • 5/5
      This is a beautifully written story of love and lies. Cora must work for her father in his Coney Island museum of odd and extraordinary things, doing things that are disgraceful to her. She hides this from Maureen, the housekeeper who tries to protect her. Thie story twists and turns around this relationship and around Cora's relationship with Eddie, whom she meets in the woods after a swim in the Hudson. It is a story well told and worth the read.
    • 5/5
      In 1922 Coney Island was in the beginning stages of the tourist attraction it became. New York still had woods in which to roam and hunt. People could still swim in the Hudson River and fish along its banks. Coralie Sardie swims it all the time, even when ice begins to form on the surface. She feels more alive in the water because you see Coralie is a mermaid. Or, at least she pretends to be a mermaid swimming in a tank at her father’s “Museum of Extraordinary Things”. Professor Sardie collects unusual specimens of all types and when his daughter turned out to have webbed fingers, well, how could he not make her the star attraction of his show? Coralie grows up surrounded by “wonders” – the paying public referred to them as freaks. As she nears adulthood Coralie can’t help but question whether she is the wonder her father promotes publicly or the freak instructed to wear white gloves at all times to hide her deformity.

      The professor’s housekeeper and Coralie’s surrogate mother Maureen, herself scarred by both life and an encounter with acid is the one person Coralie can count on for unconditional love.

      Happenstance brings Coralie into the woods one evening where she spies Ezekial (Eddie) Cohen sitting by a campfire sharing dinner with his dog. Ezekial, who feels like an outsider among his family and friends, is desparately trying to escape his recent past and even more desparately, his distant past. But how can he ever escape the boyhood memory of his home, with his mother inside, being burned to the ground? He finds his solace in photography, for some reason, specifically crime scenes. He photographs not only the victims but takes the “mug shots” of the criminals as well. But Ezekial has something extraordinary to hide as well. He has the uncanny ability to find things … and people.

      The tale of these three characters, two defined by fire and one by water, would have made an interesting book in itself but Ms. Hoffman does not stop there. She bookends their story with the tale of two New York tragedies: the Triangle Shirtwaist fire and the Dreamland fire. She expertly weaves the lives of her characters in and out and around these historical events.

      One reviewer described this book as “ a wonderful mix of magic vs. science, of history and tragedy, and of love and romance”. I couldn’t agree more.
    • 4/5
      Although a story about love, The Museum of Extraordinary Things is not really a love story. In fact, the main characters do not properly meet until over 230 pages into the book (I forget the exact page number, but I remember being surprised!) Instead, it is a novel about people - from the main characters Coralie and Eddie, to the museum's "freaks," hardworking immigrants, the wealthy, the poor...all sorts of early 20th century New Yorkers. I completely agree with the synopsis in the book that, "With its colorful crowds of bootleggers, heiresses, thugs, and idealists, New York itself becomes a riveting character" This to me was the most interesting part of Hoffman's storytelling in this book. The plot occurs roughly between two extraordinary fires in 1911. We follow Coralie, a young woman who has been raised in the Museum of Extraordinary Things on Coney Island. Due to a disfigurement she has had since birth, she is forced to become a mermaid on display at the museum. We also follow Eddie, a Russian immigrant who has a troubled relationship with his father, not to mention a fairly sizable chip on his shoulder. Eddie is an amateur photographer who is good at finding people, and is hired to look for someone's daughter after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. I was very excited to get my hands on a copy of this book at the library, but I must say, I was somewhat disappointed with it. Although a strong start, about halfway through I found myself losing interest. The character development was strong, the plot was ok... but somewhere along the way it just lost me. One thing that really bothered me is that it is love at first sight for the two main characters - two characters who, until that point, felt they would never find love. But then, they lay eyes on each other and BAM. Not much work put in there. Also, narration in each chapter flip-flops between Coralie and Eddie - which is something I enjoy in a book - but at times, it felt like there were details being hammered into us again and again, as if Hoffman believed we completely forgot about them from the previous chapter(s).If you particularly enjoy Hoffman, you might enjoy this book. It certainly isn't horrible. It just didn't do it for me.
    • 4/5
      This book kept my interest. There were too many coincidences and unbelievable events, but I found both the history and the characters very interesting.
    • 5/5
      I bought this book, never having read Alice Hoffman, and not 100% sure if I would like it. I am not a fan of sideshow type books, however I could not put it down. I just loved it, and kept reading and reading till I finished it. In fact I don't want to lend it to anyone just in case I don't get it back. I agree with mountie9 that the animals caught in the fire scenes were disturbing as I am a vegan, and a huge animal lover. I can't read any books that have obvious themes of animal suffering or cruelty or even just an animal dying in it. I found the book to contain a lot of history, which I also loved. I am now reading "The third angel" and have already borrowed all the Alice Hoffman books that were "in" at the library....I am loving the Third Angel so far as well. I am now a true blue Alice Hoffman fan. I may buy all her books anyway to keep the Museum of Extraordinary Things company on the shelves.