I’m not sure where I got this book. I just found it sitting on my shelf, and I wanted something to read. I probably picked it up from my mom’s house.
Wherever it came from, it was the perfect pandemic story for the holiday break. It’s set at Christmastime, and it’s about two plagues — one in 2040-ish Oxford, and one in 14th century Oxford.
They have invented a time-travel machine that allows historians to go back and investigate the past. A young woman intends to go back to 1320 — before the plague got to England — but things immediately fall apart. She doesn’t end up when she’s supposed to be, and as soon as she goes back, some virus starts infecting people in future Oxford, starting with the tech who manned the time-travel device.
The author has a very slow, verbose style, so it’s not a quick read. But it kept my attention, and I enjoyed it.
This 1992 look at the 2040s has some amusing quirks. They have video phones, but the phones are tied to specific locations. People have to wait around for a call. The author didn’t anticipate portable phones.
Willis doesn’t try to explain the time-travel technology, which is usually a good idea, although she also doesn’t try to wrestle with the paradoxes, as I do in My Seven Journeys Through Time.
All in all, a good read. Time travel, Medieval England, future England, riffs on Christmas themes, and a compelling story line that keeps you engaged to the last page.