The Ghost of Blanes Museum by Lau Moraiti (both text and illustrations) is due late May/early June 2024. I had a “do I/don’t I read it” relationship with this book. I was not sure I really wanted to read it, but the cover kept pulling me in. I finally had one too many cosmic hints that said, “Read it already!” And I finally read it via an online reader copy.
In the end I am not sure why I waited so long! Yet, I think this might be a “mood book” and I hadn’t been in “the mood” yet. You need the “right mood” or else it could be a little cliché. With that said, the cozy familiar themes of loss, healing and friendship, are also the strongest parts of the book. (Which is good as the author blurb says Moraiti likes making the reader feel “cozy and at home.”)
I enjoyed that it is a hopeful story despite the loss of our main character. This is mostly due to the love of his late wife and the friendship he finds by becoming the night watchman at the museum he has always worked as the day watchman. Again, while the theme is familiar, the placement of things is in Uruguay and being set in a specific art museum, is more fresh, especially the country setting.
The illustrations are sweet, and give the emotions needed. I especially enjoyed the night of the thunder storm, as it is a favorite event of mine, I could really feel it and it set the mood. But it is not scary, due to the results of the new, special friend of our watchman. These images are a perfect character in addition to our main humans and our ghosts. Overall, a delightful story that is sweet inside of the bittersweet reason why our characters meet. The extras at the end are the perfect addition as it talks about the real person whom our ghost is based on and the artist who painted the portrait we see in the museum.