[LISTENED TO: August 2018] The Sixty-Eight Rooms
Read by: Cassandra Campbell
I didn’t know this story, nor did I know anything about the Thorne rooms before our trip to Chicago last summer.
So the Thorne Rooms are, well, I’ll let the Art Institute of Chicago’s website describe them:
The 68 Thorne Miniature Rooms enable one to glimpse elements of European interiors from the late 13th century to the 1930s and American furnishings from the 17th century to the 1930s. Painstakingly constructed on a scale of one inch to one foot, these fascinating models were conceived by Mrs. James Ward Thorne of Chicago and constructed between 1932 and 1940 by master craftsmen according to her specifications.
Read more about them and see pictures here. That description doesn’t really do justice to the rooms themselves.
They are really magical in the way that they fully represent a room from a specific time and place. The floor, ceilings, walls and furniture all meet exacting standard of detail. And what makes them somehow even more special is that each room shows rooms out of the side and back doors. These are lit (and show a painted facade) that indicates what is just beyond the walls of the room you are looking at. It really adds a lot of depth and character to a scene.
Seeing them in person was really wonderful.
T. and I had started listening to this book before we left for Chicago, but we decided to wait until our trip to save it for the whole family. Then we wound up not listening to it until the home, after we had seen the rooms. And I feel like that made it all the more special. Because I could see exactly what the kids were doing in this fun and bizarre adventure.
The back of the book asks, “What if you discovered a key that allowed you to shrink so that you were small enough to sneak inside and explore the rooms’ secrets? What if you discovered that others had done so before you? And that someone had left something important behind?”
Ruthie and Jack, are classmates. They are ten years old and are best friends. They love going to the Art Institute and looking at the Thorne rooms. Jack’s mother introduces Jack and Ruthie to one of the guards, Mr. Bell, who lets them see behind the rooms–it’s mostly wires and lights that keep those rooms illuminated. On their way out of the back area, Jack spies a key. He picks it up and can’t imagine what it’s for, but he loves the look of it. When Ruthie holds it, she immediately begins to shrink. When she lets go, she is back to normal size.
What gives?
The magic doesn’t work at home. It only works when they are in the proximity of the Thorne rooms.
How can she pass up the opportunity to sneak into the actual Thorne rooms! Taking some risks, the kids borrow Mr Bell’s Museum keys and go back into the Museum at night. And while there, Ruthie is able to go into the rooms and see how intricate everything is. She lies on a bed, tries on clothes and even plays an instrument or two.
The dangers are minimal, but are certainly scary–a full-sized cockroach, the logistics of hopping across a one inch gap and, of course, getting caught.
Back home, there are real world issues as well.
Ruthie lives in a tiny flat. She shares a room with her sister and cannot wait for her to leave. Meanwhile, Jack lives in an artists’ loft. His mother is an artist and their place is kind of magical to Ruthie. Jack’s mom is wonderful and fun, whereas her parents are stodgy and boring.
The fact that Jack’s mom is an artist is important for two reasons. The first is that that’s how she makes her living. She hasn’t sold very much lately, so they are in some financial trouble. His mom has even missed rent for the past couple of months.
The second is that that’s how she knows the guard at the Art Institute. Mr Bell was also a famous artist. He was a photographer whose work was amazing. He was just about to have a showing at the gallery when his entire portfolio went missing. Mr Bell hasn’t touched a camera since.
Eventually the kids figure out how to get Jack into the rooms as well and after the explore a few of the rooms, they have an adventure outside of one of the rooms. They meet a girl, Sophie, whose family is about to be negatively impacted by the French Revolution. They also meet a boy and are in serious danger of getting harmed in that world.
Finally, they find a clue that might lead to even more information than they realize at first. In fact it could solve a lot of their problems. Fortunately, they are friends with Mrs. McVittie, a local antique book seller who is more than a little unusual. But this unusualness is very helpful for the children, because she seems to see things that other adults can’t.
Many people who reviewed this book were very critical of it for a few reasons. Especially things like how much Malone missed opportunities to explore more of the rooms. Or even the worlds outside of the room. Another complaint was that all of the problems were resolved too quickly.
This is a young person’s book and I have no problem with how the issues were resolved. I know that some children’s book can get pretty intense, but it’s nice to have ones that aren’t so intense sometimes. The excitement comes from the magic, not the danger.
I did have a problem with how bogged down Malone got with minutiae such as how to climb from the floor to the rooms while shrunk. I understand that the first time that’s pretty important but those concerns were rehashed many times. I also felt the dialogue was a little stilted and un-sixth-grade. It felt like the book was a lot older than it was when children were sweeter or purer. That’s not a problem per se, in fact it did add a bit to the enchantment of the story, but the way the spoke to each other did slow the pace down.
Some critics didn’t like that there were so many real world problems and here’s where I take issue with the complaints. These reviews wanted a book that was all fantasy set in the rooms. That’s not the book that Malone wrote, but you can’t be upset that she didn’t write the book you wanted. Well, you can be, it’s just not valid. I thought the real world issues grounded a book that was in the end about half-magical, and I thought that that was a nice touch. I also appreciated that Jack and Ruthie are the only two kids on scholarship at an expensive private school. It was a nice detail which bonded them even further (and kept them from being rich snobby kids).
There were wonderful tones that the book took which I really appreciated. I loved the excitement that Ruthie and Jack feel about the rooms and about history. I also loved their curiosity and interest in the people from the past. On a similar note, I loved the friendship between them. They watch out for each other. Jack is a hugely popular kid while Ruthie is a lot shyer and yet he loves hanging out with her and watch out for each other.
Finally, I liked the details and research that Malone used to create her story. The rooms are detailed and she includes many true-to-life items from the interiors themselves (a miniature Mayflower model ship) and one (a Hans Holbein portrait of Cristina, the Duchess of Milan) that sets off an entirely new adventure.
I do agree that I wish Malone had explored more rooms and the like–it would have been so much fun. But maybe that’s what the sequels are for. At any rate we all enjoyed the story and having just seen the rooms themselves, it was ll the more magical.
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