The Museum of Broken Promises is Laure’s story, told through a split time line between the present day Paris, Prague in 1986 with a small stop off in Berlin in 1996. The Museum is a collection of donated objects, all telling the story of the broken promises made to their owners. Included is a train ticket from 1986, the ticket meant for Laure’s first love, Tomas, who didn’t turn up. This is such a beautiful story of a doomed first love affair, communist Prague and the stories of all those who have felt the pain of promises broken.

I do love a book with a split timeline, it gives an opportunity to see the central character, in this case Laure, at different times in her life, and the how time changes them. Present day Laure is single, living in Paris and curator of the museum, and it’s wonderful objects. She comes across as guarded, distrustful and detached, all symptoms of her past, in particular her time in Prague. At twenty years old she finds herself in communist Prague, working as an au pair for Petr and Eva Kobe looking after their two children. Whilst there she meets Tomas, a musician in a band who are seen as subversive by the communist regime. Laure is young, naive and in the heat of first love, full of passion and longing, but finds her life in danger by association. Doomed from the beginning, it is this experience that shapes the rest of her life; her job in Berlin and the idea of the museum itself.

Elizabeth Buchan writes such a beautiful and heartbreaking story. She captures those feelings of first love, the passion, the all encompassing feeling of longing and the object of your love being the centre of your world, a feeling of being invincible; no one forgets their first love. Prague in 1986 is a place of danger, a place where you are followed and reported to the communist party. Elizabeth Buchan’s historical research shows life behind the Iron Curtain, the brutality of the regime and how it oppressed those who questioned it. This adds a dark side to the story, that taints Laure’s first experience of love.

My favourite part of this book was the stories behind some of the objects, the embroidered pillowcase with the drops of blood, that broke my heart and the wedding veil. The different objects show how we deal with promises broken and the emotions these objects bring out. It maybe a fictional museum but I think it would be wonderful in real life.

The Museum of Broken Promises is a wonderous and emotive read. The love story at the centre is full of passion, heat and idealism, but in reality it is doomed and has a darkness stalking it, that continues to follow Laure through life. The evocative prose and historical detail draw you in and add to the atmosphere of the plot both in the past and present. An extraordinarily powerful read.

I requested this book in the midst of a flurry of requesting everything Netgalley emailed me about and immediately regretted it because my review percentage dropped for a book that sounded nothing like anything I was interested in.
Sadly, I was right. I pushed and pushed, trying to educate myself outside of my literary comfort zone but this was another I could not finish. I didn't enjoy the to-ing and fro-ing of time, I didn't care about the characters and I am unashamedly oblivious with regards to politics, especially as it was before I was born and in another country... Sorry.

I absolutely loved this beautifully written, touching love story from one of my favourite writers.

Firstly I absolutely loved the descriptions of the museum of lost things and wish there was a real museum like it that I could visit. I think it would be utterly fascinating to explore and very interesting to learn all the stories behind the objects. I think it would be emotional to read about all the disappointments in people’s lIfe.

Laure is an interesting main character who it took me a little while to warm too as she seemed quite a cold, standoffish person when we are first introduced to her. However I soon realized that this was to protect herself from getting hurt again as she has been in the past. I liked how the reader often get little glimpses of her gentler self though like her tenderness towards the stray cat in her road. These helped me to understand her more and realise why she was acting the way she does.

I’ve always loved books set in the cold war as it’s always interesting to learn about how life was under Communist rule, especially as it is so different from our normal daily life. I must confess that I knew little about Czechoslovakia’s Communist past however so I found all the little details about this very interesting. Most books seem to be based in Germany so I liked that the author set if in a different country so I could learn more about the time.

The actual love story was wonderful to read about and I enjoyed watching it develop. Even though I knew from the beginning that it didn’t have a happy ending I kept reading in the hope that it somehow ended differently to how I thought.

Huge thanks to Charlotte Walker from Love Reading for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Corvus for my copy of this book. If you’re a fan of beautifully written, fascinating historical fiction then you’ll love this book.

‘The Museum of Broken Promises’ by Elizabeth Buchan is a disjointed story of Cold War romance and its lingering after-effects decades later. Promises are made and broken, by everyone. The title is misleading, as the sections at the museum in present day in Paris act as bookends to the crucial story in Eighties story in Czechoslovakia.
It is 1985, Prague. After the death of her father, student Laure takes a job as an au pair in Paris moving to Prague with her employers. It is the Cold War and the once beautiful city is shabby and grey, an unsettling place to live where the threat of imprisonment or violence always lingers. Laure cares for two small children while their father Petr works, he is an official at a pharmaceuticals company and in a privileged position enabling him to bring a foreigner to work in the country, and their mother Eva is ill. Gradually Laure explores the streets and finds a marionette theatre. There she is enchanted by the folklore tales of the puppets; and she meets Tomas, lead singer in a rock band.
Resistance against the repressive regime in Czechoslovakia is low key, expressed through the arts. In this way, the book reminded me of Tom Stoppard’s play ‘Rock and Roll ‘which tells the story of rock band The Plastic People of the Universe. ‘The Museum of Broken Promises’ is a story of a young student who falls in love with a bad boy who describes himself as a ‘rock soldier making war on the party’. But these words – soldier, war – are used in a student resistance sense, not actual war. This is quiet resistance rather than terrorism, but is none the weaker for this. Songs and marionettes can spread important messages of defiance, as Laure finds when she goes to a rock concert. Singing and dancing can be subversive. As someone says, it is ‘giving into forbidden yearning and loyalties. Tasting resistance like wine on the tongue’. Laure’s time in Prague echoes throughout her later life and leads her to open her museum in Paris, inviting mementoes from strangers, objects that represent broken promises.
‘The Museum of Broken Promises’ is a slow moving contemplative story, without the pace of a thriller despite its Cold War setting and the constant threat to anyone who speaks or behaves out of turn. This lack of propulsion makes it seem a longer book than it is and I wanted it to have some bite. The story moves back and forth from Prague to Paris and more than once I wasn’t sure where Laure was. This adds to the sense that nothing is what it seems.
Laure is an innocent who is sometimes stupidly naïve, unknowingly putting other people in danger. It is an example of the idealism and irreverence of youth ignoring advice. As she is warned on her arrival in Prague, don’t ask questions, don’t answer questions.
A difficult book to categorize.
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I so wanted to like this book, the concept of a Museum of Broken Promises and the Cold War background are both appealing but it just made angry at the choices and improbability of it all.

This is a novel set in two timelines which unfortunately slows the pace and makes it a slog of a read. I enjoyed the historical context in which the novel is set but failed to get any empathy for the older Laure.

Sadly, I wasn't able to finish this one this time, although I do hope to try again in future. It wasn't really what I thought it was - I found the past timeline confusing and the present timeline boring, so ultimately had no motivation to continue. The premise sounded really interesting but the writing was dull and didn’t encapsulate the intrigue that the synopsis expressed. Sadly, I don’t think this book is for me.

Heart wrenching read and so well written that I didn’t want it to end. A definite recommendation from me

This book is poignant, emotive, full of love, hurt and history. It is a fabulously encapsulating and enthralling read.

This is the story of Laure and 'The Museum of Broken Promises', born out of her life experiences, as a young woman in communist Czechoslovakia, and Berlin, after the fall of the wall. The prologue gives you a taste of what is to come and introduces the historical element that underscores the story.

'The Museum of Broken Promises is a place where people can deposit items that represent grief, loss or broken promises in their lives. The idea behind it is uplifting, and the book uses timeslip to see if Laure's contributions to the museum, have a positive effect on her life.

The story moves between Laure's life in the past and present, introducing a variety of characters, whom she comes into contact with as a naive, young woman, and a stronger older woman. Like all literary fiction, part of the enjoyment is in the beauty of the prose. The characters are often superficial because their function is to contribute to the concept of the museum.

This story needs concentration and time to get the best from it, but if you have a few hours to spare, it will repay the investment of both.

I received a copy of this book from Corvus via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I loved the story as it was set in two of my favourite cities - Paris and Prague. It follows the story of Laure and how circumstances change her life to such an extent and how she manages within the constraints. Beautifully written and a fabulous story. Did not want it to end!

I loved the premise, the setting and the dual timelines, and thought the writing was really powerful. Ultimately though, I found it a bit slow and difficult to get into - although this is purely a matter of taste and I am certain others would love it

I absolutely adored this novel. Unique and engaging. I could not put it down. One of her best to date.
I will be recommending this to my book group

The Museum holds artefacts which are related to broken promises. This is an interesting concept from the start. Based in Eastern Europe around the time the Berlin Wall came down. Lots of interesting historical facts and some emotional reporting..

I really struggled with this book. The premise sounded great and I was so looking forward to reading it. It was hard to get into and even though I stuck with it did not find myself caring about the characters and felt unfulfilled.

I felt this book was ok, it was well written and the story was told in a logical order. However I felt that it wasn't really a story that needed telling. By the end I felt like it was just a generic love story with bits going on in the background.

Not something I would recommend but the style of writing was good

Loved this book and story although got a bit bogged down in the history part but liked the concept of the museum.

The central character in this novel is Laure, the curator and owner of The Museum of Broken Promises which exists on a back Street in Paris. The items in it have all been donated by people to remember the promises that were broken to them so that, taken as a whole, the exhibition reflects a whole range of tragic human events - small in their own way but consequential for those deceived.

The reason why Laure is so involved in the museum becomes clear as the story shifts between today in Paris and twenty or so years previously when Laure was a gauche and inexperienced young girl in Czechoslovakia in the period after the Dubcek liberalisation programme was crushed by hardline communists. The country and its people were in the grip of constant fear of the secret police and informers, the bang on the door in the night, unexplained disappearances and harsh repression.

Laure was only there because of her Parisian employers, the Kobes family where she was viewed as something like an au pair. She looked after the children, Maria and Jan, while their mother was unwell and, when the family moved back to Prague, she moved with them.

That's the setting and it leads to Laure becoming involved with a group of dissidents who work in a puppet theatre and starting an intense love affair with one of them, Tomas. As this relationship develops, it is disapproved of by the head of the family, Petr Kobes, who - with links to the government and the police - always seems to know what Laure is doing. Eventually, Laure flees the city and her job and Tomas attempts to escape across the closed border and into Austria. He fails and, in the present, Laure lives with their unfulfilled promises and the feeling that he was betrayed before being murdered, and possibly tortured, by government agents. The museum is a kind of memorial to their relationship.

Two things happen in the present to jolt this status quo. An American journalist called May Williams arrives to do an article on the museum and Laure meets up again with Petr Kobes after Czechoslovakia has been returned to democracy and she has the opportunity to ask him what happened to Tomas and how he, Petr, was involved in the betrayal.

There are some odd contrivances at work in moving the story along. May develops as a character in her own right spending much longer with the museum and Laure than a journalist ever would. Laure develops some strange feelings for Petr and there is a frisson of passion as she tries to seduce him into telling her the truth. In the end, the story is resolved much more easily by May making a few enquiries and identifying who really betrayed Tomas. And, after all that, perhaps Laure can get on with her life!

Although Elizabeth Buchan writes well and can conjure up a city, I wasn't always convinced by this novel. There's a lot of description of the museum and tiny vignettes of the people who come there, as well as a focus on Laure's life and her cat which tended to drag. There also seemed to be some discordance between the Petr of the past and the present while May who started off as a young and slightly insecure journalist blossomed into becoming an investigative reporter. It looked like hard work for Elizabeth Buchan bringing it all together!

I had really looked forward to this book which I received as an ARC copy via Netgalley Atlantic Books and Corvus. It failed to reach the heights I had ascribed to it. The narrative moved all over the place without any real reason and I felt under-presented the story line. I didn't really feel anything for the characters although i though Petr was the best drawn of them all. There was a part towards the end when the pace and danger within the narrative began to appear but it was too little too late for me

In Paris there is a strange museum. It is the museum of broken promises & in it are items donated along with the story of why that piece signifies a broken promise. The curator is Laure, an English woman who left after her father's death when she was younger & never went back. Her item's story has its roots in 1980's Czechoslovakia. There against the backdrop of the Communist Eastern Bloc, she fell in love with a rebellious musician.

This story told me a lot I didn't know about the end of the Cold War. However it was the idea of the Museum of Broken Promises that appealed to me in the first place & I was left feeling rather cheated. There was so many stories I wanted to hear & Laure's time in Prague took up most of the book. It is well written & researched. I am sure it will appeal to many, but I was a bit lukewarm about it. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.