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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 . 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