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Ophelia 
Beyond Awesome
Fiction Moderator
Book Discussion Leader
Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 1192
Gender: 
Location: France
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 Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 4:49 pm Post subject: Time travel and " The Mirror", by Marlys Millhise
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( Note that this is not a new posting, I had formerly posted this in the wrong part of the forum.)
I am attracted by the theme of time travel, yet I am often disappointed with such novels.
What I look for in such novels is how the writer will present the historical aspect one one character having to travel backward or forward in time, and how he/she will cope with this on a daily basis.
Many novels with a time travel theme are just romances, what matters is the love story -- the two lovers meet at different intervals in, say, the second part of the twentieth century. History itself does not seem to matter.
I began reading " The Time traveler's wife", by Audrey Niffenegger, a few days ago, and I feel discouraged, as it seems to me that it belongs to the category I have just described.
If anybody has read the book and thinks that I'm mistaken, please let me know and give me arguments as to why I should continue, I'd be delighted.
MS Gibbaldon's novels, which sold extremely well, attracted me in the beggining. From 20th C back to XVIIIth century Scotland-- it was light reading but I loved it. Then there were sequels and in the end I thought the series ran out of steam.
Then there was Michael Crichton "Timeline". Not bad, again for light reading. You were not lot led to expect that things in the Middle Ages would feel 100 % credible, and once this was accepted the book was OK.
Now: The Mirror (first published in 1978) : A rare book,which , as it seems, never got much publicity, but is a little gem.
The scope of the time travel is modest, from the 1970's to 1900 , back and forth, anchored on a central point: the family house in Boulder, Colorado.
Naturally, when reading such books, you need to get into your "suspension of disbelief" mode.
"The Mirror" does have love stories, but the focus is on the two women characters, grandmother and dranddaughter, and how they cope with their new lives. The characters and the story are engaging. There is humour, there are surprises.
This is a book which deserves to be better known than it is.
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