Caroline B. Cooney

Volume Two

The Time Travelers

Volume One

Pepper

** spoiler alert **
           Sometimes you have to not read for a loooooong time (like 6 months) to appreciate the goodness that is dipping yourself into a fictitious world and getting lost in pages of words. Looking at the reviews on Amazon it seems that not many are as fond of Caroline B. Cooney's "Time Travelers" quartet compared to her other books. It could be that I have not had the chance to read her other more popular series or that not having read anything except university textbooks for the past 6 months I was desperate to read any book that did not involve Calculus, Programming or Engineering Fundamentals. Either way I bought both volume 1 and 2 of The Time Travelers series on a whim after my exams and having just finished reading the quartet have fallen in love with it! It was all that I hoped it would be and more. Drama, action,history, romance, mystery and dollops of time travelling: can a girl ask for anything more? 

In Both Sides of Time we are introduced to Annie Lockwood currently living in the summer of 1995. A romantic at heart she loves visiting the Stratton Mansion -- a century old house with its shimmering triangular mirrors, marble floors, double oak doors and ballroom but which is sadly in disrepair and about to be demolished. A fall through time takes her back a 100 years to a time when the Stratton's are yet alive (1890s) and here she meets (and falls in love) with Strat, his sister Devonny and Harriett (who everyone knows will be wed to Strat one day). And thus begins our journey through heartache and happiness. We see how Annie's arrival affects everyone and at first it seems that all her arrival has done is set in motion a chain of events that seem to lead only to pain for all involved. I won't go through the events because it's much more fun being surprised at all the turn of events (like eating a chocolate not knowing what the inside filling is). But I have to mention Florinda who everyone dismissed as a airy-fairy woman who faints from 'vapours' so often that she needs her own Fainting Couch -- she surprises everyone by shooting Mr. Rowwells when he tries to kill Harriett. That has got to be one of my favourite scenes from the book! 

Harriett's story is simply heart-breaking and the most tragic of all. She loves Strat knowing that he loves Annie. Smarter than most men, she is not allowed to go to university because it was unseemly for women of her status in her era to do so. All she wants from life is to have a happy household with Strat but instead she contracts consumption and is stuck in the Adirondack Mountains believing herself to be abandoned by her fiancé Strat (who is stuck in an insane asylum by his father and in turn believes himself to be abandoned as well) . The most heart-wrenching imagery comes when Harriett, who was always considered plain, smiles at how beautiful she looks now because of the flush in her cheeks and her small waistline, the results of the fatal disease that is eating her from the inside. In Out of Time Annie does manage to bring Strat to Harriett in her dying moments and crying Strat realises how much he loved Harriett despite his deep love for Annie (confusing isn't it?) and Harriett gets to die in the arms of her beloved. However, I'm too cynical and I'd rather Charlie had gotten the chance to confess and live happily ever after with Harriett than Strat redeeming himself in my eyes by ignoring Annie completely (in the romantic sense) when he hears how his childhood best friend is suffering. Ah I loved it when Annie feels jealous of Harriett! You can tell that I'm not as invested in the main couple Annie and Strat as I am in the rest of the characters but it's nothing personal against them: Strat is a gentleman, kind and courteous while Annie is strong, full of courage and determination, but I just happen to always love the ones who don't get as much attention as they deserve. 

Fortunately the third book Prisoner of Time remedies that! No Annie or Strat in sight, instead the book focusses on Tod Lockwood and Devonny, their respective siblings. It is hilarious and refreshing to see Tod deal with the same 'falling through time' thing as his sister. Mostly because he reacts in completely the opposite way to Annie. Disbelieving, he doesn't want to do do any falling (in love or through time) and fights it all the way. But what I enjoyed the most was his scolding of Devonny every time she said that he or Strat should save her. His mother having drilled in the whole self-made woman principles in his head he encourages Devonny to save herself and fight back no matter what era she is stuck in. And how can one not love the cute little girl's soccer team that he coaches! Another favourite of mine is Hugh-David, seemingly misogynistic and arrogant he realises what his character really is like when Devonny disappears right before their wedding. His true strength of character is revealed when he has to deal with the aftermath of the scandal and he redeems himself in the readers eyes and then some! 

The last book For All Time takes a departure from the structure of its predecessors: the book is divided into parts with titles like Time to Fall,Time to Fear, Time to Die etc and within each of these parts the narrations are split between the various characters. Neat concept. I have to admit I was less engaged in this last book but only because the focus seemed to be on Strat and Annie. And Renifer a girl living in the 20th year of the reign of Khufu. Yes this time Annie and Strat get to travel to ancient Egypt when the pyramids were being constructed! The book ends on a vague and confusing note which I guess is as it should be because the whole time travelling thing is confusing anyway.
Overall I give this series a double thumbs-up with book 2 and 3 being my personal favourites.

The Time Travelers Volume Two

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