A Line You Have Traced by Roisin Dunnett

A Line You Have Traced by Roisin Dunnett.

Published 10th April 2025 by Magpie.

From the cover of the book:

‘We can fix what we have done. We can undo the mistakes our ancestors made. We can set right what has been done wrong... You are the first step.’

In a silverware shop, a young wife works alongside her husband. Amid growing political turmoil, Bea finds solace in the local marsh, where she is visited recurrently by a mysterious presence, logging each appearance carefully in a scarlet journal.

In a time like now, Kay navigates friendship, queerness and the temporary job market, whilst contemplating the significance of her life in a world with such an uncertain future. At her grandmother’s house she finds an intriguing record of an angel’s visits.

A hundred years into the future, outsiders have banded together to live off-grid away from a corrupt government and a city wracked by oppression and climate change. When Ess is chosen for a virgin mission, a journey into the past to save the present, she is guided only by a well-thumbed red notebook…

Set against the shifting landscape of East London marshes and expanding over three centuries, this is the breathtaking, urgent story of three women separated by history but threaded together by unknown forces.

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Early twentieth century, Bea, a young Jewish wife works with her husband, Ade, in a silverware shop. As the political landscape shifts around them, the couple prosper financially and move out to the countryside fringing the marshes east of London. Bea is lonely and confused about the presence of Haich, who has inserted himself into their marriage, and claims to be writing a novel about them. She finds solace in the marshes, and writing about the comforting presence of a being she believes to be an angel in her little red journal.

In a time like now, Kay is finding her place in a world troubled with political unrest. She distracts herself from an uncertain future, and a stream of temporary jobs, by pursuing a vibrant (if unfulfilling) night-life with her friends, and exploring her sexuality. One day at her grandmother's house she discovers an old red journal and is intrigued by its stories of a visiting angel...

A hundred years into the future, Ess lives in a world brought it its knees by greed, political turmoil, and climate change. She believes that the days of humankind are numbered. But then she is offered the chance to travel back in time to try to set things right - a journey tied to an old red journal she has discovered...

Essentially, this slow-burn debut is a literary adventure story, dropping in on the lives of three women separated in time, who are connected through the presence of Bea's little red book . Their narratives weave and blend together, slowly drawing you into their experiences, and I am so impressed with Dunnett's ambition and the scope of her imagination. 

Through time, Dunnett returns to the marshes, the relationship of the women with this environment, and the significance of Bea's writings about the 'angel'. In many ways, it is not apparent that this will be a speculative novel, until the surprise twists come via Ess' part in the story, as so much of this book is about the domestic, friendship, romantic, and family dramas of the three women (which Dunnett writes about with skill). I really enjoyed that although different, they each face quite similar dilemmas when it comes to them finding their space in an increasingly troubled world, and making their voices heard. Beautifully explored themes of legacy, and motherhood abound.

However, a speculative story this is, and a very clever one at that. It conspires that Ess and Bea are two ends of a timeline that has gone seriously wrong somewhere, and it is down to Ess to try to put things right. It is not immediately obvious where Kay fits into the big picture of this time travelling rescue mission, but eventually you realise she is important pivot-point in the story. 

This book was something of a feminist odyssey through times of turmoil, with lovely reflections of tracing the line that connects the trials, tribulations and triumphs of Bea, Kay and Ess. It is very hard to explain quite how much the novel gets under your skin, but I came to love all three as the meanderings of Dunnett's tale developed, and the moment when the three meet is emotional dynamite.

I highly recommend this stunning debut if you feel like losing yourself in a Cloud Atlas type tale that provokes your thoughts - especially when it comes to tricky time loops! It manages to span nicely pitched historical fiction, contemporary drama, and dystopian invention all in one fascinating package - and makes room for some welcome kitty characters too! 

A Line You Have Traced is available to by now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Oneworld for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Roisin Dunnett is a writer from London. Her fiction pamphlet Animal, Vegetable was published in 2021 by Broken Sleep Books. Her short fiction has been published in Prototype, Hotel, Ambit, Vittles and elsewhere. She has an MA in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmiths where she was taught by Chris Power and Francis Spufford, and where she was longlisted for the Pat Kavanagh Prize in 2022.