The Museum of Extraordinary Things was published by Scribner in 2014. Coralie Sardie is the daughter of a Coney Island sideshow operator — she swims in a tank as the “Human Mermaid,” her webbed fingers (a birth defect) displayed as proof of her aquatic nature. Eddie Cohen is a Ukrainian Jewish immigrant turned crime photographer, documenting the Lower East Side’s tenements and labor unrest.
The novel is set in 1911, the year of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire (which killed 146 garment workers). Eddie photographs the aftermath; Coralie discovers that her father’s museum conceals darker secrets than fake mermaids. Their stories converge as both pursue truth — Eddie through his camera, Coralie through her growing awareness that her father is a monster as well as a showman.
Hoffman’s New York is rendered with vivid historical detail: the boardwalks of Coney Island, the tenements of the Lower East Side, the Hudson River frozen solid, the Dreamland amusement park before its destruction by fire. The novel combines her signature magical realism (Coralie’s connection to water, her ability to hold her breath impossibly long) with historical fiction’s demands for accuracy and specificity.
First edition (Scribner, New York, 2014): Hardcover with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $15–$35
- Very good/very good: $8–$15