All my recent reads do a little time traveling: The People of the Book works backward in time, tracing the history of a rare illuminated haggadah from its present day status in the hands of a curious conservator who wonders just what various inclusions in the binding and marks on the parchment mean. The butterfly wing, the fine white hair, the missing clasps, the stains of blood, salt, and wine all have their stories to tell. And while the diligent conservator learns quite a bit, through the marvel of the novelist's story-telling, the reader learns the whole, fascinating story of this marvelous book and its travels and its preservation by a cast of characters that include Muslims and Christians, as well as Jews. From modern day Sarajevo back to 15th century Spain I loved this book -- as I always love historical fiction that adds to my knowledge. (Psst! It's only 1.99 on Kindle )
Conversely, Alice Hoffman's The Red Garden travels from the founding of a lonely, magic-touched New England village through the centuries to the present day. Wonderful characters and description in Hoffman's lovely prose. (And it's another blue light special for Kindle.)
Currently I'm a little ways into Jasper Fforde's second Thursday Next adventure and am finding it lots of fun -- even if some of the allusions escape me. Somehow this is my first Fforde book though I've had them recommended to me often. And the time travel here is backwards, forwards, and sideways. Probably some other ways too. As I say, lots of fun! (This too is 1.99 for Kindle -- do you see a pattern emerging?)
