The Ministry of Time

A Barack Obama reading pick A 2024 literary highlight for the Sunday Times , The Times , Observer , Financial Times , Guardian , Independent , BBC, Grazia , Evening Standard , ELLE , Dazed , Sunday Express , GQ , i-D , Stylist , Bookseller and Literary Friction ''A thrilling debut . . . It''s very smart; it''s very silly; and the obvious fun never obscures completely the sheer, gorgeous, wild stretch of her ideas'' GUARDIAN ''Fast moving and riotously entertaining, a genre-busting blend of wit and wonder'' OBSERVER , 10 best new novelists for 2024 ''Terrific, moving . . . Crack this book open and you''ll see how time can disappear'' FINANCIAL TIMES ''I loved its combination of extreme whimsy, high seriousness and cool understatement'' THE TIMES ''A high-energy story with thoughtful things to say about belonging'' INDEPENDENT ''Utterly winning . . . Readers, I envy you: There''s a smart, witty novel in your future'' WASHINGTON POST ''Clever, witty and thought-provoking'' KATE MOSSE, author of The Ghost Ship ''Make room on your bookshelves for a new classic'' MAX PORTER, author of Shy ''As electric, charming, whimsical and strange as its ripped-from-history cast'' EMILY HENRY, author of Happy Place ''Thought-provoking and horribly clever - but it also made me laugh out loud'' ALICE WINN, author of In Memoriam ''A feast of a novel - singular, alarming and (above all) incredibly sexy'' JULIA ARMFIELD, author of Our Wives Under the Sea ''A weird, kind, clever, heartsick little time bomb of a book'' FRANCIS SPUFFORD, author of Golden Hill A BOY MEETS A GIRL. THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE. A FINGER MEETS A TRIGGER. THE BEGINNING MEETS THE END. ENGLAND IS FOREVER. ENGLAND MUST FALL. In the near future, a disaffected civil servant is offered a lucrative job in a mysterious new government ministry gathering ''expats'' from across history to test the limits of time-travel. Her role is to work as a ''bridge'': living with, assisting and monitoring the expat known as ''1847'' - Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin''s doomed expedition to the Arctic, so he''s a little disoriented to find himself alive and surrounded by outlandish concepts such as ''washing machine'', ''Spotify'' and ''the collapse of the British Empire''. With an appetite for discovery and a seven-a-day cigarette habit, he soon adjusts; and during a long, sultry summer he and his bridge move from awkwardness to genuine friendship, to something more. But as the true shape of the project that brought them together begins to emerge, Gore and the bridge are forced to confront their past choices and imagined futures. Can love triumph over the structures and histories that have shaped them? And how do you defy history when history is living in your house? ...

Autorentext

Kaliane Bradley is a British-Cambodian writer and editor based in London. Her short stories have appeared in Electric Literature, Catapult, Somesuch Stories and The Willowherb Review, among others. She was the winner of the 2022 Harper's Bazaar Short Story Prize and the 2022 V. S. Pritchett Short Story Prize.

Her debut novel, The Ministry of Time, was an instant Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller and a global sensation. It was chosen as one of the Observer's 'Best Debut Novels of 2024' and was a Barack Obama summer pick; it was longlisted for the Women's Prize and shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize.

Klappentext

⭐ The sensational Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller ⭐
⭐ Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction**, shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and a finalist for a Hugo Award** ⭐

'The hit of the year'
Guardian

A civil servant is offered a lucrative job in a mysterious new government ministry gathering 'expats' from across history to test whether time-travel is feasible.

Her role is to work as a 'bridge': living with, supporting and monitoring expat '1847' - Commander Graham Gore, a former Victorian polar explorer. Gore, an adventurer by trade, soon adjusts to this bizarre new world of washing machines, feminism and Spotify; and during a long, sultry summer the pair move from awkwardness to friendship to something more.

But as the true shape of the project that brought them together begins to emerge, Gore and the bridge are forced to confront their past choices and imagined futures. Can love triumph over the histories that have shaped them? And how do you defy that history when it is living in your house?

'Addictive'
Independent

'Crack this book open and you'll see how time can disappear'
Financial Times

'Readers, I envy you: there's a smart, witty novel in your future'
Washington Post

'Kaliane Bradley's fish-out-of-water rom-com has a winning premise. [...] The book's combination of whimsy and seriousness works brilliantly.'
**Sunday Times, Summer Reads
**
'This time-travelling love story is the perfect mix of witty, sexy and moving.'
**Good Housekeeping, 50 best ever beach reads
**
⭐ A Barack Obama reading pick

⭐ **Shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize
**⭐ **Shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction
**⭐ **Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award
**⭐ **Shortlisted for the Climate Fiction Prize
**⭐ **Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction
**⭐ **Longlisted for the Jhalak Prize
**⭐ **Longlisted for a British Book Award
**
⭐ A book of the year for: the Sunday Times, New York Times, Guardian, Independent, Evening Standard, Spectator, Red, NPR, Vanity Fair, People, Slate, Advocate, Sydney Morning Herald, Globe and Mail, Den of Geek, Good Housekeeping, Goodreads, NetGalley and Smithsonian Magazine