This is part of my Summer Reads series where I’ll be sharing book recommendations – a series of “not just cookbooks”.
When I first read the blurb for this week’s #summerreads pick, I couldn’t decide it it would be something I would enjoy. SO many different genres mixed into one book? How would that work? Spoiler: it just does!
From the publisher:
A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all: Welcome to The Ministry of Time, the exhilarating debut novel by Kaliane Bradley.
In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.
She is tasked with working as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as “1847” or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,” “Spotify,” and “the collapse of the British Empire.” But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.
Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.
An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, The Ministry of Time asks: What does it mean to defy history, when history is living in your house? Kaliane Bradley’s answer is a blazing, unforgettable testament to what we owe each other in a changing world.
The Ministry of Time asks the universe: “What happens if you put a disaffected millennial and a Victorian polar explorer in a house together?”
Time travel? A government ministry is formed to bring “Expats” from various points of history to live in the present-day? What a concept! What an extraordinary book!
It’s a sci-fi-romance-thriller-comedy (yes, really!) that I couldn’t put down after the first few chapters. It took me a while to get into it but once I had the various characters organised in my head (and the various eras the book is set in), it was a quirky page-turner for me.
Apparently it’s giving Outlander vibes but I am not familiar with that series and I enjoyed this for the breath of fresh air read that it was – quite unlike anything else I’ve ever read. Warning: while it often feels like a comedy, the end may break your heart…
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Disclosure: I received an advance copy from Simon & Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review. I am not receiving any compensation for reviewing the book. Neither the author nor the publisher reviewed this post prior to publication. All opinions are my own.
Buy The Ministry of Time on Amazon (this affiliate link should bring you to the Amazon store in, or closest to, your country).
For free worldwide shipping, find The Ministry of Time on Blackwell’s.
Support your local Indie bookstore and purchase The Ministry of Time on Bookshop.org.
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Buy my books! In the French kitchen with kids and French Food for Everyone: le goûter (after school snacks), le dîner (dinner) and le petit déjeuner (breakfast) are out now! Click here for details and how to order!
