ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas @KateMascarenhas @HoZ_Books
Regular visitors to my blog will know that I’m a huge fan of books featuring time travel so when The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas caught my eye I knew it was a must-read. My huge thanks go to Blake Brooks from Head of Zeus for sending me a copy for review.
1967.
Four female scientists invent a time travel machine. They are on the cusp of fame: the pioneers who opened the world to new possibilities. But then one of them suffers a breakdown and puts the whole project in peril…
2017.
Ruby knows her beloved Granny Bee was a pioneer, but they never talk about the past. Though time travel is now big business, Bee has never been part of it. Then they receive a message from the future – a newspaper clipping reporting the mysterious death of an elderly lady…
2018.
When Odette discovered the body she went into shock. Blood everywhere, bullet wounds, that strong reek of sulphur. But when the inquest fails to find any answers, she is frustrated. Who is this dead woman that haunts her dreams? And why is everyone determined to cover up her murder?
Buy link (the Amazon page is worth a look for the gorgeous graphics that are on there)
Time travel is something that absolutely fascinates me. It’s such a thrilling idea, being able to travel to the past or future. So, you can imagine that any book that features time travel appeals to me immensely and when I heard about The Psychology of Time Travel I was hooked straightaway. The beauty of the cover was just an added extra.
The book begins in 1967 with the four pioneers: Margaret, Lucille, Grace and Barbara. They are scientists who are inventing a time machine and they’re on the verge of changing the world. We don’t return to 1967 after this but we do travel around the years, mainly with Ruby, Barbara’s granddaughter, and Odette, a young woman who discovers something that changes her life.
There are some wonderful characters in this book. Ruby and Odette are two wonderful women, very brave and determined. But I also loved Barbara and Grace. Something happens to Barbara in 1967 which takes her away from her beloved time travel, but she remains the clever woman that she was. And Grace is really quite fabulous and cryptic.
My particular favourite bits are where the past and future collide, where a mother can meet her grown up daughter from the future whilst thinking about what her young daughter in the present will have for tea. It’s the sort of thing that has my jaw dropping as I try to process it. And then there are the parts where tears sprang into my eyes as people made contact with those they had lost.
Time travel is very much a part of life in this book and yet it’s not overused, not everyone does it. This makes it both unique and yet commonplace.
The author has done an amazing job with this book. How she plotted it and put it all together I do not know but she’s achieved something very special. I read this book with a sense of awe, for the fabulously complex plot, the villain of the piece, the heroines, and the emotions.
This is a book about women, celebrating their intelligence, their astuteness. Men feature but there are few of them and they take a back seat. It’s quite clear that the author intended to showcase women with this book and good on her, I say!
I simply cannot do justice to this book in my review. All I can suggest is that you read it yourself. There’s a mystery surrounding a death at the heart of it and lots and lots of time travel. What more could you possibly want?
Kate Mascarenhas is a writer.
Born in 1980, she is of mixed heritage (white Irish father, brown British mother) and has family in Ireland and the Republic of Seychelles.
She studied English at Oxford and Applied Psychology at Derby. Her PhD, in literary studies and psychology, was completed at Worcester.
Since 2017 Kate has been a chartered psychologist. Previously she has been an advertising copywriter, bookbinder, and doll’s house maker. She lives in the English midlands with her partner.
Her new novel, The Psychology of Time Travel, is available now to buy in the UK.
Website – check out the amazing dioramas!
Author bio and photo from Amazon
I knew you’d like this one!
Me too!
Oh I do like a bit of time travel in a book too. I like the sound of this one and what a gorgeous cover.
It’s so good, Joanne.
Time travel is tricky with me when it doesn’t involve a TARDIS, but I have a feeling, from your review, that this book does it well enough!
It certainly does. They have their own time machine (without the small on the outside, bigger on the inside bit).