I was so excited to get an ARC of this at ALA last month. Since the conference was held in Chicago and I ended up spending an extra few days alone in the city after, it was the perfect time to read a book set in that toddling town. I spent three very hot days reading this amazing tale of climate change, time travel, political activism and interpersonal relationships.
Many of the familiar characters from The Time Traveler's Wife are on deck and there are some wonderful new additions. It's basically the second generation and things are not going well. There is divisiveness in the populace, global warming is out of control and time travel is more annoying than you'd think it would be.
Niffeneger is able to avoid the patina of "grooming" that retroactively colored many readers' experience of TTW and even addresses it in the text. The daughter of Henry and Claire, Alba, is also a time traveler. She has a bit more control, or maybe awareness is a better word, of how her abilities work, but it still does a number on her. Her love interests are Zach - a sweet boy who anchors her to the present and another mysterious gentleman, the less said of, the better.
This doesn't have the sweeping romantic feel of her parent's story. And frankly, Abla is not all that interesting or loveable on her own. What is wonderful about this book is the sweeping narrative and the pockets of action that, while set in what is becoming a dystopian hellscape, echo into the world we live in today.
I had a very hard time putting this book down. And while I don't think I'll ever get to the point of opening it and reading once scene to brighten my mood - the way I do with Claire and Henry's "first" meeting at the Newberry Library - I will definitely be visiting this world again.
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