A BOY MEETS A GIRL.
THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE.
A FINGER MEETS A TRIGGER.
THE BEGINNING MEETS THE END.
ENGLAND IS FOREVER.
ENGLAND MUST FALL.
There are several ways to tell a story.
A civil servant starts working as a ‘bridge’ – a liaison, helpmeet and housemate – in an experimental project that brings expatriates from the past into the twenty-first century. This is a science-fiction story.
In a London safehouse in the 2020s, a disorientated Victorian polar explorer chain smokes while listening to Spotify and learning about political correctness. This is a comedy.
During a long, sultry summer – as the shadows around them grow long and dangerous – two people fall in love, against all odds. This is a romance.
The Ministry of Time is a novel about Commander Graham Gore (R.N. c.1809-c.1847) and a woman known only as the bridge. As their relationship turns from the strictly professional into something more and uneasy truths begin to emerge, they are forced to face the reality of the project that brought them together.
Can love triumph over the structures and histories that shape them?
My Take
What a wild, wonderful, weird book. I’ve been on a time travel kick lately and this was a new and different take on it. I loved the characters so much I wanted a happy ending for everyone. Just a great all around read.
Reading the snippets from the polar expedition reminded me of our visit to the Fram Museum in Oslo, a fascinating look at the Fram ship and the expedition. I recommend that and the nearby Kon-Tiki Museum if you’re ever in Oslo.