Ned Henry travels through time for a living, taking care of little jobs like rescuing artifacts from buildings just before they get destroyed. It’s a pleasant enough job, and he’s good at it, accepting the occasional misstep with equanimity and aplomb… but then he falls in love. Verity Kindle, also a time traveler, has inadvertently brought something back with her. It has to be returned. If Ned returns it, he might, he thinks, grab a little vacation in Victorian England. It seems simple enough.
The thing about professional time traveling is that it relies on a high level of accuracy in time and space. Before he knows it, Ned is in deep water, with time travelers (including himself) popping back and forth and getting things more and more complicated, as the very funny Victorian story continues along with no one noticing that people are zipping in and out of multiple centuries.
The novel has plenty of excitement, romance, references to Jerome K. Jerome’s wonderful book Three Men in a Boat, and humor. There are plenty of fascinating characters, droll comparisons of the time periods, and deep insights into people and society.
It’s beautifully written,funny, and sweet. Just the thing for packing when you travel, or for a serious book club.