Search This Blog

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

The Psychology Of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas



Read August 2018.

Four female scientists invent a time travel machine, which will make them famous. One of them, however, mysteriously suffers a breakdown which could put the whole project in peril.

50 years later, time travel has become big business. The granddaughter of the pioneer who had a breakdown, knows very little about her grandmother's involvement, but her interest is piqued when she receives a message from the future.

I must admit that I was not sure I would like this book when I started reading it. The timelines jump around a lot and there are multiple characters to keep track of - some of them even the same people at different ages! The comparison to the much lauded Station Eleven also was a bit off-putting, as I found that book somewhat soulless and disappointing.

However, I found myself slowly being drawn into the web of threads that Kate Mascarenthas has skillfully written and found it hard to put the book down at all after a little while. You simply have to keep reading, until all the threads come together, and come together in a very satisfying way they do.

I love a time travel story and have read a lot of them, but nothing quite like this before. It really makes you question how time travel might affect a person's mental health and what sort of person they might become once the future (including their own fate) holds no mystery for them. The story is about the changes wrought on the characters themselves and what this leads to. There is plenty to think about here and it is one of those books that will leave an impression long after you have read it.

This is an intriguing book and is very cleverly crafted. The female characters are strong and drive the story, incuding the romantic element, which is very refreshing.

No comments:

Post a Comment