Editorial Content for Friends of the Museum
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Reviewer (text)
The first full-length novel from Heather McGowan since 2006 is here. I typically do not look at online reviews or blurbs of titles that I am covering, but I needed to make an exception with this one.
I cannot remember seeing a work of fiction receive such a divisive set of reviews spanning both ends of the spectrum, with no one going middle of the road. The reason for this amazing dichotomy is purely based on McGowan’s writing style, which is a combination of the stream-of-consciousness writing of William S. Burroughs and the complexity of a Thomas Pynchon novel. I happen to really like both of these authors, so I appreciated what she did here. But readers not used to this approach will find it to be quite challenging.
"Challenging writing style aside, this is a clever and risk-taking piece of work, and it clearly announces that Heather McGowan is back in the game."
We are taken on a 24-hour ride inside the mind of New York museum director Diane Schwebe. It just so happens to be the most difficult, memorable and trying 24 hours of her personal and professional life. Throughout the story, we are privy to the unfiltered thoughts of Diane and all of the colleagues with whom she interacts. Some might find the dark, sarcastic humor to be cruel and a bit much. But I enjoyed having complete access to what was going on in everyone’s minds.
Some of the principal characters involved (and many thanks to McGowan for including a list of them at the beginning of the novel) are Henry Joles, General Counsel; Shay Pallot, Chief Security Officer; Benjamin Rippen, Curator of Film; Nikolic Pesa, Chef de Partie; and Katherine Tambling, Associate Curator of Costume. We also have Diane’s personal assistant, Chris, as well as other minor players and various interns who are mentioned throughout the day.
On this particular day, which begins for Diane at 4:30am, we watch in horror as she juggles too many balls in the air, so we are not surprised when one or more of them falls. We also get a peek inside her crumbling marriage; her husband, Dominic, recently caught her in bed with another woman. There are unplanned absences, petty thievery, plenty of burnout and job dissatisfaction around the horn, and something no one thought they ever would be forced to deal with --- a murder.
The unexpected homicide definitely takes the wind out of everyone’s sails, and the dark humor comes to a grinding halt. Since we already were exposed to these characters’ inner thoughts, it should come as no surprise that one or more of them would be capable of murder. Nevertheless, the moment shifts the focus of everyone’s day, and all eyes are on Diane to take charge of the situation.
FRIENDS OF THE MUSEUM can be called a tragicomedy as it most assuredly delivers on that. Challenging writing style aside, this is a clever and risk-taking piece of work, and it clearly announces that Heather McGowan is back in the game.
Teaser
When Diane Schwebe, the director of a major New York museum, is awakened in the early morning by a text message from the museum’s lawyer, it is the start of a 24-hour roller-coaster ride. Diane has sacrificed many things in her life to help the fading institution stave off irrelevance and financial ruin. In this battle, she’s surrounded by her stalwart supporters. Orbiting her is a motley assortment of museum employees, each on the precipice of collapse or revelation --- among them a line cook staring down a huge opportunity he’s not sure he wants; a costume curator stuck in an inescapable rut; and the ambivalent curator of the museum’s film program, whose first day on the job might very well be his last. On this day of the museum’s annual gala, every plate that Diane has kept spinning will fall --- and by daybreak, someone will be dead.
Promo
When Diane Schwebe, the director of a major New York museum, is awakened in the early morning by a text message from the museum’s lawyer, it is the start of a 24-hour roller-coaster ride. Diane has sacrificed many things in her life to help the fading institution stave off irrelevance and financial ruin. In this battle, she’s surrounded by her stalwart supporters. Orbiting her is a motley assortment of museum employees, each on the precipice of collapse or revelation --- among them a line cook staring down a huge opportunity he’s not sure he wants; a costume curator stuck in an inescapable rut; and the ambivalent curator of the museum’s film program, whose first day on the job might very well be his last. On this day of the museum’s annual gala, every plate that Diane has kept spinning will fall --- and by daybreak, someone will be dead.
About the Book
Coworkers at a legendary but troubled New York City museum struggle with issues large and small over the course of one extraordinary day in this whip-smart “marvel” (Mona Awad, bestselling author of BUNNY) of a novel in the vein of "The White Lotus."
When Diane Schwebe, the director of a major New York museum, is awakened in the early morning by a text message from the museum’s lawyer, it is the start of a 24-hour roller-coaster ride.
Diane has sacrificed many things in her life to help the fading institution stave off irrelevance and financial ruin. In this battle, she’s surrounded by her stalwart supporters: her enigmatic and tireless personal assistant, Chris; the museum’s trusty head of security, Shay; and its general counsel, Henry --- a man whose ability to weasel his way out of a jam is matched only by his capacity to avoid learning anything from the experience.
Orbiting her is a motley assortment of museum employees, each on the precipice of collapse or revelation --- among them a line cook staring down a huge opportunity he’s not sure he wants; a costume curator stuck in an inescapable rut; and the ambivalent curator of the museum’s film program, whose first day on the job might very well be his last.
On this day of the museum’s annual gala, every plate that Diane has kept spinning will fall --- and by daybreak, someone will be dead.
Wise, surprising and darkly funny, FRIENDS OF THE MUSEUM is a kaleidoscopic tragicomedy that surges along to the unstoppable tick of the clock, leaving you on the edge of your seat until the final second.
Audiobook available, read by Cassandra Campbell
