Story Review: Lovers at the Museum: A Short Story by Isabel Allende

Rating: 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.