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Lovers at the Museum
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wind Knows My Name comes a mesmerizing tale of two passionate souls who share one magical night that defies all rational explanation.
Love, be it wild or tender, often defies logic. In fact, at times, the only rationale behind the instant connection of two souls is plain magic.
Bibiña Aranda, runaway bride, wakes up in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao still wearing her wedding dress, draped in the loving arms of a naked man whose name she doesn’t know. She and the man with no clothes, Indar Zubieta, attempt to explain to the authorities how they got there. It’s a story of love at first sight and experience beyond compare, one that involves a dreamlike journey through the museum.
But the lovers’ transcendent night bears no resemblance to the crude one Detective Larramendi attempts to reconstruct. And no amount of fantastical descriptions can convince the irritated inspector of the truth.
Allende’s dreamy short story has the power to transport readers in any language, leaving them to ponder the wonders of love long after the story’s over.
Love, be it wild or tender, often defies logic. In fact, at times, the only rationale behind the instant connection of two souls is plain magic.
Bibiña Aranda, runaway bride, wakes up in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao still wearing her wedding dress, draped in the loving arms of a naked man whose name she doesn’t know. She and the man with no clothes, Indar Zubieta, attempt to explain to the authorities how they got there. It’s a story of love at first sight and experience beyond compare, one that involves a dreamlike journey through the museum.
But the lovers’ transcendent night bears no resemblance to the crude one Detective Larramendi attempts to reconstruct. And no amount of fantastical descriptions can convince the irritated inspector of the truth.
Allende’s dreamy short story has the power to transport readers in any language, leaving them to ponder the wonders of love long after the story’s over.
25 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2024
About the author
Isabel Allende
186 books39k followersIsabel Allende Llona is a Chilean-American novelist. Allende, who writes in the "magic realism" tradition, is considered one of the first successful women novelists in Latin America. She has written novels based in part on her own experiences, often focusing on the experiences of women, weaving myth and realism together. She has lectured and done extensive book tours and has taught literature at several US colleges. She currently resides in California with her husband. Allende adopted U.S. citizenship in 2003.
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March 4, 2024
FREE this month (March 2024) for Amazon Prime members…
Bibiña Aranda, a runaway bride, wakes up in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain still wearing her wedding dress. She is draped in the loving arms of a naked man whose name she doesn’t know. She and the man with no clothes, Indar Zubieta, attempt to explain to the authorities how they got there. How did they allude the guards and cameras?
It’s a story of love at first sight.
An otherworldly, short story (25 pages) which might make you wonder, who ARE they, who WERE they, or what ARE they?
Do you believe?!
Bibiña Aranda, a runaway bride, wakes up in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain still wearing her wedding dress. She is draped in the loving arms of a naked man whose name she doesn’t know. She and the man with no clothes, Indar Zubieta, attempt to explain to the authorities how they got there. How did they allude the guards and cameras?
It’s a story of love at first sight.
An otherworldly, short story (25 pages) which might make you wonder, who ARE they, who WERE they, or what ARE they?
Do you believe?!
April 7, 2024
Even the sturdy rationality of logic bends and breaks against the tempests of love. Such is the case of the titular lovers in Isabel Allende’s Lovers at the Museum who defy both legal and logical laws in their amorous adventures around the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Pitting pragmatism against passion, Allende examines art and romance as the bits of magic and wonder left alive in a harsh world of volatile politics and scandals. As a lover or love, a lover of art and especially a lover of art museums, I found this to be a delightful little short story that is a bit slight but still rather sweet, surreal and satisfying.
There is a rather alluring charm to the idea of a magical museum that opens its heart to those caught in a maelstrom of passion. The story focuses on the investigation of the two, dubbed the “Bewitched Lovers,” after they are found wrapped up together—she in a tattered wedding dress and he fully nude—on the floor of the museum as if they were an installation piece on the topic of sudden and overpowering ‘carnal love.’ Their presence eludes logic, having confronted no guards, set off no alarms and appearing on no cameras despite confessing to a series of sexual escapades around the museum. But was it truly the museum or an alternate space in the fabric of time, ‘some fantastical palace.’ Or was everyone too focused on the latest scandal—we are told a scandal involving the Pope has gripped the world—and too wrapped up in politics and sensationalism to notice the magic working right under their noses? I enjoy how their story even takes on political connotations in the newspaper.
'But in this case it was the vice of love, easy enough to forgive.'
Short, sweet and full of Isabel Allende’s direct but lovely writing, Lovers at the Museum is a nice little piece that reminds us that art is still a space for magic in the world. It is charming how it chucks aside social conventions, such as her being a runaway bride fleeing expectations, and emboldens the whimsicality of impulsivity in the face of desire. And while I gather the attempt to write a moment of swift and potent romance, it felt like there's some murky question around consent that didn't sit quite right. It felt a bit uncool that the runaway bride was quite drunk and in a state of grief while he admits he had not drank at all, giving an impression he may have taken advantage of her. While the story is nothing overly fantastic, its embracing of the fantastical is worth the quick trip into this story.
3.5/5
There is a rather alluring charm to the idea of a magical museum that opens its heart to those caught in a maelstrom of passion. The story focuses on the investigation of the two, dubbed the “Bewitched Lovers,” after they are found wrapped up together—she in a tattered wedding dress and he fully nude—on the floor of the museum as if they were an installation piece on the topic of sudden and overpowering ‘carnal love.’ Their presence eludes logic, having confronted no guards, set off no alarms and appearing on no cameras despite confessing to a series of sexual escapades around the museum. But was it truly the museum or an alternate space in the fabric of time, ‘some fantastical palace.’ Or was everyone too focused on the latest scandal—we are told a scandal involving the Pope has gripped the world—and too wrapped up in politics and sensationalism to notice the magic working right under their noses? I enjoy how their story even takes on political connotations in the newspaper.
'But in this case it was the vice of love, easy enough to forgive.'
Short, sweet and full of Isabel Allende’s direct but lovely writing, Lovers at the Museum is a nice little piece that reminds us that art is still a space for magic in the world. It is charming how it chucks aside social conventions, such as her being a runaway bride fleeing expectations, and emboldens the whimsicality of impulsivity in the face of desire. And while I gather the attempt to write a moment of swift and potent romance, it felt like there's some murky question around consent that didn't sit quite right. It felt a bit uncool that the runaway bride was quite drunk and in a state of grief while he admits he had not drank at all, giving an impression he may have taken advantage of her. While the story is nothing overly fantastic, its embracing of the fantastical is worth the quick trip into this story.
3.5/5
March 5, 2024
3.5⭐
When a cleaner at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao discovers a pair of young lovers in a passionate embrace during her morning shift – a naked man and a woman in a wedding dress - everyone, including Detective Aitor Larramendi who is looking into the case, is flummoxed by how they entered the museum and spent a whole night there without being caught on security cameras. As the indignant Detective interrogates Bibiña Aranda and her lover Indar Zubieta, their accounts of the events from that night and how they ended up together leave him with more questions than answers.
With elements of magical realism, romance and humor Lovers at the Museum: A Short Story by Isabel Allende is a delightful read. Though all my questions weren’t answered (the story was a tad too short to explore the fantastical elements mentioned in the narrative), I found the characters interesting and was both amused and entertained. I enjoy Isabel Allende’s writing and would love to read more short stories by this immensely talented author.
This story is currently available as one of the March selections for Amazon First Reads and is expected to be published on April 1, 2024.
Connect with me! ✏ Instagram ✏ My Blog ✏ The StoryGraph
When a cleaner at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao discovers a pair of young lovers in a passionate embrace during her morning shift – a naked man and a woman in a wedding dress - everyone, including Detective Aitor Larramendi who is looking into the case, is flummoxed by how they entered the museum and spent a whole night there without being caught on security cameras. As the indignant Detective interrogates Bibiña Aranda and her lover Indar Zubieta, their accounts of the events from that night and how they ended up together leave him with more questions than answers.
With elements of magical realism, romance and humor Lovers at the Museum: A Short Story by Isabel Allende is a delightful read. Though all my questions weren’t answered (the story was a tad too short to explore the fantastical elements mentioned in the narrative), I found the characters interesting and was both amused and entertained. I enjoy Isabel Allende’s writing and would love to read more short stories by this immensely talented author.
This story is currently available as one of the March selections for Amazon First Reads and is expected to be published on April 1, 2024.
Connect with me! ✏ Instagram ✏ My Blog ✏ The StoryGraph
April 11, 2024
Only Isabel Allende could write a story about two strangers fornicating in a public building and turn it into something so poetic and magical. (Okay, maybe Gabriel García Márquez could have also done it, but it would almost certainly have had a much higher “ick” factor because the man would have been sixty and the girl would have been fourteen.) It's a surreal little tale that leaves you guessing as to what really happened in the museum that night – is it possible that the building is truly bewitched, or were the two lovers simply overwhelmed by their passion for each other?
Allende's prose, as always, is simply exquisite. There's some humor – the “brain of a chicken” comment made me chuckle – and also just a hint of the erotic. (For those looking for the graphic details, it's a no-go – most of the “action” occurs just before this story begins.) There's also magic and romance (of the insta-love variety, anyway) and even a light bit of detective work.
It's not exactly The House of the Spirits (it'd need another 400+ pages for that), but Lovers at the Museum is definitely a must-read for devoted Allende fans. That's not to say that her new readers couldn't enjoy this story, as well … it's a lower-commitment entry point to her work than her more famous (and much more lengthy) novels, yet still manages to showcase her elegant prose and tremendous talent.
My overall rating: 4.4 stars, rounded down.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for providing me with a copy of this story to review.
Allende's prose, as always, is simply exquisite. There's some humor – the “brain of a chicken” comment made me chuckle – and also just a hint of the erotic. (For those looking for the graphic details, it's a no-go – most of the “action” occurs just before this story begins.) There's also magic and romance (of the insta-love variety, anyway) and even a light bit of detective work.
It's not exactly The House of the Spirits (it'd need another 400+ pages for that), but Lovers at the Museum is definitely a must-read for devoted Allende fans. That's not to say that her new readers couldn't enjoy this story, as well … it's a lower-commitment entry point to her work than her more famous (and much more lengthy) novels, yet still manages to showcase her elegant prose and tremendous talent.
My overall rating: 4.4 stars, rounded down.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for providing me with a copy of this story to review.
May 16, 2022
Relato corto ambientado en el Guggenheim de Bilbao.
En pocas páginas, Allende nos describe un suceso "mágico" y, cabe decir que, con muy poco, consigue una buena caracterización de los personajes. No es fácil.
Short story set in the Guggenheim in Bilbao.
In a few pages, Allende describes a "magical" event and, it must be said, with very little, she gets a good characterization of the characters. It's not easy.
En pocas páginas, Allende nos describe un suceso "mágico" y, cabe decir que, con muy poco, consigue una buena caracterización de los personajes. No es fácil.
Short story set in the Guggenheim in Bilbao.
In a few pages, Allende describes a "magical" event and, it must be said, with very little, she gets a good characterization of the characters. It's not easy.
March 28, 2024
hmm ig it was ok
What did I just read…
not what I expected from the title and description
It was so short, I feel like it should have been longer… just so that I could make a little more sense. Def not executed the best
What did I just read…
not what I expected from the title and description
It was so short, I feel like it should have been longer… just so that I could make a little more sense. Def not executed the best
April 8, 2024
5★
“A night watchman found the lovers sleeping in a knot of arms, legs, and tulle, enveloped in the foam of a ruined wedding gown in one of the galleries of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.“
That opens this quirky little fantasy by noted Chilean-American author Isabel Allende. She writes in both Spanish and English – this began its life in Spanish and she translated it into English. As a result, it has the interesting cadence of a translated work, which I enjoy.
To understand what makes this particular fantasy (almost) believable, do a virtual tour of the Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain.
https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en
Surely anything could happen in a place (or palace, as the girl insists) like this. She is wearing a wedding dress, but the fellow is starkers, still with the obvious signs of arousal, which a thoughtful policeman tries to hide by hanging his hat on it.
Why was she clothed? ...she was in her white dress because I couldn’t unfasten the little buttons, tiny as fleas.’”
She was escaping her wedding, saw this guy, was instantly smitten, and off they raced together, straight into the museum where the fellow said ” ‘we did it like rabbits all over the place.’ “
But how did they get in? Apparently everyone knows the building has magical properties. The detective investigates.
“He was determined to be delicate with the girl so as not to frighten her. ‘Are you a whore?’ he asked.”
Allende tells this story with such heart-warming affection that I’m prepared to believe anything . A bit of bewitching and floating through palaces can’t be all bad. It’s the tonic I needed.
Thanks to #NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for a copy of #LoversAtTheMuseum for review. It’s free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
“A night watchman found the lovers sleeping in a knot of arms, legs, and tulle, enveloped in the foam of a ruined wedding gown in one of the galleries of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.“
That opens this quirky little fantasy by noted Chilean-American author Isabel Allende. She writes in both Spanish and English – this began its life in Spanish and she translated it into English. As a result, it has the interesting cadence of a translated work, which I enjoy.
To understand what makes this particular fantasy (almost) believable, do a virtual tour of the Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain.
https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en
Surely anything could happen in a place (or palace, as the girl insists) like this. She is wearing a wedding dress, but the fellow is starkers, still with the obvious signs of arousal, which a thoughtful policeman tries to hide by hanging his hat on it.
Why was she clothed? ...she was in her white dress because I couldn’t unfasten the little buttons, tiny as fleas.’”
She was escaping her wedding, saw this guy, was instantly smitten, and off they raced together, straight into the museum where the fellow said ” ‘we did it like rabbits all over the place.’ “
But how did they get in? Apparently everyone knows the building has magical properties. The detective investigates.
“He was determined to be delicate with the girl so as not to frighten her. ‘Are you a whore?’ he asked.”
Allende tells this story with such heart-warming affection that I’m prepared to believe anything . A bit of bewitching and floating through palaces can’t be all bad. It’s the tonic I needed.
Thanks to #NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for a copy of #LoversAtTheMuseum for review. It’s free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
April 6, 2024
Fun short story from Amazon Originals.
When a woman in a bridal gown and a naked man are found together one morning locked in the museum the police are called and questions are asked. The most important one being how they got into a locked museum in the first place, let alone why the dress.
Lots of dialogue to make you smile, some fantasy, and a neat ending. I liked it very much.
Thanks Marianne for recommending this one!
When a woman in a bridal gown and a naked man are found together one morning locked in the museum the police are called and questions are asked. The most important one being how they got into a locked museum in the first place, let alone why the dress.
Lots of dialogue to make you smile, some fantasy, and a neat ending. I liked it very much.
Thanks Marianne for recommending this one!
March 28, 2024
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies...
- Lord Byron
First they think them dead. Next, they believe they’re intoxicated. Later they dub them The Bewitched Lovers.
A night watchman finds them; a woman wearing a wedding dress and a man stark naked sleeping in each other’s arms in a gallery at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
The museum officials and the police are bewildered as no alarms were sounded and no doors were unlocked.
The lovers claim they found the door open.
There are rumors that the museum is possessed; that at night it enters the dimension of dreams, where the statues dance and the colors spill out from the canvases and wander around like playful spirits.
Is there a logical explanation for the mystery?
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies...
- Lord Byron
First they think them dead. Next, they believe they’re intoxicated. Later they dub them The Bewitched Lovers.
A night watchman finds them; a woman wearing a wedding dress and a man stark naked sleeping in each other’s arms in a gallery at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
The museum officials and the police are bewildered as no alarms were sounded and no doors were unlocked.
The lovers claim they found the door open.
There are rumors that the museum is possessed; that at night it enters the dimension of dreams, where the statues dance and the colors spill out from the canvases and wander around like playful spirits.
Is there a logical explanation for the mystery?
March 3, 2024
Very short & very weird… I think it needed to be a little bit longer so that it made any sense at all. Wasn’t for me.
Read for free from Amazon First Reads.
Read for free from Amazon First Reads.
March 1, 2024
I got this short story for free as part of March’s Prime First Reads. There is a reason this was free 😅
I think this short story was a fever dream. I’m not even sure what happened. They find this couple entangled in a museum, the man is naked and the woman in a bridal dress. They have no idea who each other is, but they are in love (even though she just ran away from her groom?). The investigator doesn’t seem to be able to figure out what happens… so oh well; it’s love, it’s all fine. THE END.
I think this short story was a fever dream. I’m not even sure what happened. They find this couple entangled in a museum, the man is naked and the woman in a bridal dress. They have no idea who each other is, but they are in love (even though she just ran away from her groom?). The investigator doesn’t seem to be able to figure out what happens… so oh well; it’s love, it’s all fine. THE END.
April 4, 2024
This is a short story that was beautifully written. The story is told from the perspective of a detective who is stuck trying to figure out how two people managed to make love all through a museum without being caught by the guards or setting off a single alarm. I think my favorite part was when the detective determined this would never be solved to his boss’s satisfaction and placed the file next to four others and I would love to know what other mysterious and mystical cases he has investigated. The story itself did feel finished, but I would love to know about that detective.
April 8, 2024
3.5 Enchanting. Loved the detective trying to make sense out of things that didn't make sense. He kept trying though, gotta give him an A for persistence.
April 12, 2024
Lovers At The Museum is an intriguing short story, it was one of the March selections on Amazon First Reads. One of those stories that I definitely think I would have preferred if it was a little longer. The setting of the museum feels almost mystical. The character of the detective feels like he is trying to make sense of what is happening and piece it together along with the reader. It is most certainly about the notion of ‘love at first sight”, as a runaway bride finds herself waking up in the arms of a mysterious lover, inside of a museum. Sometimes, love really does defy logic.
3.4 Stars
3.4 Stars
April 20, 2024
Isabel Allende - I’ve been in love with her work since I first encountered her “House of the Spirits” decades ago. I still feel its echoes in my soul.
At a mere 5414 words, this is the shortest story of hers I’ve read but it is quintessential Allende: Charming, magical, life-affirming, and just plain fun!
Go on and read it - if you’re an Amazon Prime subscriber, you get it for free. Everyone else gets it for a fair EUR 1,99.
Five stars out of five.
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Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam
At a mere 5414 words, this is the shortest story of hers I’ve read but it is quintessential Allende: Charming, magical, life-affirming, and just plain fun!
Go on and read it - if you’re an Amazon Prime subscriber, you get it for free. Everyone else gets it for a fair EUR 1,99.
Five stars out of five.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Mastodon | Instagram | Pinterest | Medium | Matrix | Tumblr
Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam
April 21, 2024
My Rating: 1⭐️ boooo!
I got this free from Amazon First reads and I wasn’t holding out much hope. Had seen some other reviewers mention how weird it was.
It was weird but there didn’t really seem to be much point. It had magical elements, romance elements and mystery elements but it was far too short with far too many elements to really get much of a story going!!
Not for me but thankfully it was short and also free.
I got this free from Amazon First reads and I wasn’t holding out much hope. Had seen some other reviewers mention how weird it was.
It was weird but there didn’t really seem to be much point. It had magical elements, romance elements and mystery elements but it was far too short with far too many elements to really get much of a story going!!
Not for me but thankfully it was short and also free.
April 4, 2024
Lovers at the Museum is a short story written and translated by Chilean-American novelist, Isabel Allende. When a cleaner finds a young couple asleep in a gallery of the Guggenheim Museum, security summon the police, and Detective Altor Larramendi, the hound of Bilbao, arrives to investigate.
What he finds is very puzzling: a drunken young woman in a bridal dress who didn’t marry her fiancé, ran from the church and went to a bar; a sober but naked young man who doesn’t even know the woman’s name, swears they did not break into the museum, but admits to smoking a joint; evidence of their lovemaking in several of the galleries; security who claim that after-hours entry beyond the electronically-locked doors is impossible; and no sign of forced entry.
These strangers, who claim they met in a bar and fell instantly in love, who tell him the museum is enchanted, what can he charge them with? Utterly delightful!
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories.
What he finds is very puzzling: a drunken young woman in a bridal dress who didn’t marry her fiancé, ran from the church and went to a bar; a sober but naked young man who doesn’t even know the woman’s name, swears they did not break into the museum, but admits to smoking a joint; evidence of their lovemaking in several of the galleries; security who claim that after-hours entry beyond the electronically-locked doors is impossible; and no sign of forced entry.
These strangers, who claim they met in a bar and fell instantly in love, who tell him the museum is enchanted, what can he charge them with? Utterly delightful!
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories.
March 7, 2024
Isabel Allende is an author I have been wanting to read forever. I was thrilled when I saw this 25 page short story was available. I knew I had to check it out. I don’t usually throw the word giddy around, but I’ll admit it. I was giddy. And for good reason.
Allende’s writing is exquisite. Her style exudes panache and humor. It makes for comfortable reading that you can sink right into. This delightful tale of magical realism is going to be for the reader, who likes to let their imagination roam and wonder, more so than the reader who requires a precise answer to every question.
Two lovers are found in a tangle of limbs on the floor of the museum. Are they intoxicated by love, booze, or the magic of the museum? Does it matter?
The lovers don’t know each other’s names and they don’t care. To them their soul deep connection says it all. The authorities want answers and they aren’t satisfied with the descriptions the lovers give of their magical night.
I would love to return to this enchanted place for a longer, more in depth read. In the case of this tale, brevity worked in its favor giving it an extra dose of magic, by ending quick as a blink.
Allende’s writing is exquisite. Her style exudes panache and humor. It makes for comfortable reading that you can sink right into. This delightful tale of magical realism is going to be for the reader, who likes to let their imagination roam and wonder, more so than the reader who requires a precise answer to every question.
Two lovers are found in a tangle of limbs on the floor of the museum. Are they intoxicated by love, booze, or the magic of the museum? Does it matter?
The lovers don’t know each other’s names and they don’t care. To them their soul deep connection says it all. The authorities want answers and they aren’t satisfied with the descriptions the lovers give of their magical night.
I would love to return to this enchanted place for a longer, more in depth read. In the case of this tale, brevity worked in its favor giving it an extra dose of magic, by ending quick as a blink.
March 12, 2024
I do love Isabel Allende's writing and this short story maintains her high level of quality. I read her writing and the stories stay with me after the book has ended. My mind wandered to the possible magic hidden in well loved places like libraries and museums. Let your mind wander and explore after reading this!
March 3, 2024
Mystery Anachronism in the Translation
Review of the Amazon First Reads Kindle eBook edition (March 1, 2024), released in advance of the official publication by Amazon Original Stories in eBook format & by Audible Originals in audio format (April 1, 2024) translated by the author from the Spanish language original Los amantes del Guggenheim (2001).
The story here is pretty slight. A pair of young lovers are discovered in the morning by a cleaner inside the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. They have apparently spent the entire night making love in various locations of the museum. They were somehow able to enter the museum unseen even though it had been locked up for the night and various security cameras had been installed. The detective is unable to explain the mystery. The woman had apparently escaped from an unwanted marriage ceremony and became enamoured of the man she met later that day. Her explanation is that they became transparent due to their love.
The larger mystery for me was that although this new story is a translation of the author's own Los amantes del Guggenheim from 2001, an installation which is mentioned in the translation did not exist until 2019. This installation is mentioned in the 2nd sentence of the new text:
"Rising Sea" (2019) a sculpture/installation by the artist El Anatsui at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain.
I was lucky to find a free online version of the original Spanish language story at Los Amantes del Guggenheim which confirms that the reference to the "Rising Sea" did not exist in the original. Presumably this was one of methods by which Allende sought to bring the story more up to date to the present day.
Trivia and Links
Read further about the sculpture/installation "Rising Sea" (2019) at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
Read further about the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao at Wikipedia.
Amazon Prime First Reads advance reading copies (ARCs) are available to Amazon Prime subscribers. They offer advance reads of books in Kindle eBook format one month before the date of official release. The current month's selection is available here (Link goes to Amazon US, adjust for your own country or region).
Review of the Amazon First Reads Kindle eBook edition (March 1, 2024), released in advance of the official publication by Amazon Original Stories in eBook format & by Audible Originals in audio format (April 1, 2024) translated by the author from the Spanish language original Los amantes del Guggenheim (2001).
The story here is pretty slight. A pair of young lovers are discovered in the morning by a cleaner inside the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. They have apparently spent the entire night making love in various locations of the museum. They were somehow able to enter the museum unseen even though it had been locked up for the night and various security cameras had been installed. The detective is unable to explain the mystery. The woman had apparently escaped from an unwanted marriage ceremony and became enamoured of the man she met later that day. Her explanation is that they became transparent due to their love.
The larger mystery for me was that although this new story is a translation of the author's own Los amantes del Guggenheim from 2001, an installation which is mentioned in the translation did not exist until 2019. This installation is mentioned in the 2nd sentence of the new text:
He discovered them directly in front of a vast mural named Rising Sea, which Detective Aitor Larramendi took for a wrinkled curtain. He didn’t get modern art; he preferred bucolic landscapes with cows.
"Rising Sea" (2019) a sculpture/installation by the artist El Anatsui at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain.
I was lucky to find a free online version of the original Spanish language story at Los Amantes del Guggenheim which confirms that the reference to the "Rising Sea" did not exist in the original. Presumably this was one of methods by which Allende sought to bring the story more up to date to the present day.
Trivia and Links
Read further about the sculpture/installation "Rising Sea" (2019) at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
Read further about the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao at Wikipedia.
Amazon Prime First Reads advance reading copies (ARCs) are available to Amazon Prime subscribers. They offer advance reads of books in Kindle eBook format one month before the date of official release. The current month's selection is available here (Link goes to Amazon US, adjust for your own country or region).
April 17, 2024
Lovers at the Museum is a sparkling and magical novella by one of my favorite Latin American authors, Isabel Allende, since the publication of her first book The House of Spirits in 1982. In 2014, President Barack Obama awarded Allende with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 2018 she received the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation.
And so begins the story of two passionate souls who spend a magical night that defies all logical explanation how they escaped detection by the motion sensors and sophisticated alarm system throughout the museum as well as the nightly patrols of the guards at the Guggenheim Museum. But although it defied logic, the runaway bride, Bibina Aranda, wakes up in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao still wearing her wedding dress and draped in the arms of a naked man, Indar Zubieta. This couple attempts to explain to the authorities how their meeting one another was love at first sight. After meeting one another in a bar where Bibina had fled as she ran away from her wedding, they were falling in love. Later while walking without an umbrella, they gently pushed on the museum doors allowing them entrance to escape the rain. Bibina tells Inspector Larramendi that the museum is enchanted as she explains that like butterflies she and her lover fluttered through the galleries and breezed in and out of the paintings, and we drank in the colors and got lost in the labyrinth and danced with the sculptures. This is a book that will leave you light-hearted and smiling. We all need a little magic in our world.
”A night watchman found the lovers sleeping in a knot of arms, legs, and tulle, enveloped in the foam of a ruined wedding gown in one of the galleries of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. He discovered them directly in front of a vast mural named Rising Sea. . . .”
And so begins the story of two passionate souls who spend a magical night that defies all logical explanation how they escaped detection by the motion sensors and sophisticated alarm system throughout the museum as well as the nightly patrols of the guards at the Guggenheim Museum. But although it defied logic, the runaway bride, Bibina Aranda, wakes up in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao still wearing her wedding dress and draped in the arms of a naked man, Indar Zubieta. This couple attempts to explain to the authorities how their meeting one another was love at first sight. After meeting one another in a bar where Bibina had fled as she ran away from her wedding, they were falling in love. Later while walking without an umbrella, they gently pushed on the museum doors allowing them entrance to escape the rain. Bibina tells Inspector Larramendi that the museum is enchanted as she explains that like butterflies she and her lover fluttered through the galleries and breezed in and out of the paintings, and we drank in the colors and got lost in the labyrinth and danced with the sculptures. This is a book that will leave you light-hearted and smiling. We all need a little magic in our world.
April 2, 2024
Lovers at the Museum is a very short story beautifully written by Isabel Allende. Two people, a woman in a wedding gown and a naked man are found asleep on the floor of Guggenheim Museum in Balboa Spain shortly before the morning opening. Now, a no-nonsense, blustery detective must find out how they got into the locked museum or spent the night without showing up on any of the numerous security cameras.
This is a story of love, or perhaps, lust at first sight imbued with a touch of magical realism, whimsy, and humour. The detective’s brash and somewhat frustrated talk provides a fitting contrast with the lyrical prose of the lovers’ speech. The story provides a satisfactory and happy ending for everyone including the detective..
I received a copy of this story from Netgalley and Amazon Short Stories in exchange for an honest review
This is a story of love, or perhaps, lust at first sight imbued with a touch of magical realism, whimsy, and humour. The detective’s brash and somewhat frustrated talk provides a fitting contrast with the lyrical prose of the lovers’ speech. The story provides a satisfactory and happy ending for everyone including the detective..
I received a copy of this story from Netgalley and Amazon Short Stories in exchange for an honest review
April 17, 2024
3/5
Quite strange and unusual story, but I liked it.
Quite strange and unusual story, but I liked it.
April 13, 2024
Love, even spontaneous just-left-my-fiancé-at-the-altar stranger love, can transcend reality.
Sharp, vivid writing that blends fun mystery with contemporary fiction and magical realism. My mother described this as “totally a story Eva Luna [also by Isabel Allende] would tell”.
A great short story, and one that gives me the same feeling as Haruki Murakami's “Barn Burning”—is wanting just a little bit more a me problem? Both stories, written by brilliant authors, are crafted in ways that leave you with the weight of interpretation.
Already looking forward to my next Isabel Allende read.
Thanks to Netgalley, Amazon Original Stories, and Isabel Allende for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Sharp, vivid writing that blends fun mystery with contemporary fiction and magical realism. My mother described this as “totally a story Eva Luna [also by Isabel Allende] would tell”.
A great short story, and one that gives me the same feeling as Haruki Murakami's “Barn Burning”—is wanting just a little bit more a me problem? Both stories, written by brilliant authors, are crafted in ways that leave you with the weight of interpretation.
Already looking forward to my next Isabel Allende read.
Thanks to Netgalley, Amazon Original Stories, and Isabel Allende for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
March 13, 2024
A very enjoyable short story. It is clever, funny and entertaining. Just what you would expect from a very talented writer.
April 10, 2024
What a delightful short story by Isabel Allende! When two young lovers are found inside the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao after a night of passion, an inspector nicknamed The Hound of Bilbao takes the case. He has a fierce determination to solve his cases and this one should be no different. But the two young lovers are full of romance and describe their night as magical! What is the hard nosed detective supposed to do when nothing shows up on security footage? A fun and funny little story that will make you smile and reflect on young love! I would love to know more but the story ended!
April 5, 2024
A runaway bride and a very naked man found in a museum by a cleaner cause a lot of problems for a police detective, who lives by the rules and doesn't accept flights of fancy. Interesting short story.
April 8, 2024
I want my 15 minutes I spent on that back
April 12, 2024
Lovers at the Museum is an Amazon original short story by Isabel Allende. I recently read my first full-length Allende novel, City of the Beasts, and was excited to read something completely different from the author.
Lovers at the Museum is magical realism, in which two lovers meet at a bar, fall instantly in love, and spend an evening making passionate love in the Guggenheim in Bilboa, Spain. The detective assigned to investigate their case is determined to figure out how the two of them got past the security of the museum, but the lovers insist that they transcended into a magical dream world in which there was no security and they flitted through the museum like butterflies. He's inclined to believe them.
What a charming short story.
Lovers at the Museum is magical realism, in which two lovers meet at a bar, fall instantly in love, and spend an evening making passionate love in the Guggenheim in Bilboa, Spain. The detective assigned to investigate their case is determined to figure out how the two of them got past the security of the museum, but the lovers insist that they transcended into a magical dream world in which there was no security and they flitted through the museum like butterflies. He's inclined to believe them.
What a charming short story.
April 1, 2024
This was just gorgeous, whimsical and unexpected. The story felt so vivid and the writing was beautiful, I would love to have this have been even longer so we could have experienced the magic of the story and setting even more.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.
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