Review: Short story: "Lovers at the Museum" by Isabel Allende

Lovers at the Museum by Isabel Allende
Published April 2024 via Amazon Original Stories

It's been too long since I read any Isabel Allende. In "Lovers at the Museum", a man and a woman are awoken at (you guessed it) a museum. They've clearly been there overnight, but nobody is sure just how—how did they evade the guards, the alarms? They haven't stolen or broken anything, so is there a crime with which to charge them?

Allende is known for her magical realism, and true to form, there are more questions than answers here. We're left to fill in the blanks, to believe or not believe what Bibiña and Indar have to say about what happened the night before. The story drifts along, and not all that much happens, but it doesn't really matter because it's so clear that Allende is in control of the narrative (even if the local police wished otherwise). I suspect that if I had a different cultural context or education, I'd make even more connections here, so I'll be curious to see what other readers make of it.

Either way, a reminder to go update my TBR!

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.