The Museum of Extraordinary Things

Alice Hoffman, long known for incorporating magical realism into her novels has once again proved a master by combining the best elements of historical fiction, magical realism, mystery and now romance in her latest novel The Museum of Extraordinary Things. Coralie Sardie is the daughter of  promoter "professor" Sardie behind the Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island boardwalk curiosities show. An excellent swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father's museum. One night after a long swim in the cold Hudson River Coralie stumbles upon a dashing young photographer taking pictures of the trees in the moonlight. The handsome young man is Eddie (Ezekiel) Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father's Lower East Side Orthodox community and his job as a tailor's apprentice. After Eddie photographs the devastation on the streets of  New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes entwined in the suspicious mystery behind a young woman's disappearance and ignites the heart of Coralie. Novelist Alice Hoffman delights once again with her powerful and captivating storytelling.