The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (2024)

Rating:⭐⭐⭐ A charming genre mashup of thriller, sci-fi, and romance with even a dash of comedy thrown in, The Ministry of Time proudly delivered on all accounts. Our story revolves around a London woman working for a government entity that has discovered time travel- but doesn't know how to work it. Instead of sending modern humans through time, they select a few individuals who would have died in past centuries and pull them into the future, hoping to successfully adjust them to modern society. Our narrator is assigned to Commander Graham Gore from the ill-fated 1845 Arctic expedition for the Northwest Passage. Throughout the project, she slowly uncovers secrets that threaten the historic man she's falling in love with and trigger a dangerous race against time itself.

Bradley's writing was stylistically unique; I found it incredibly refreshing. Her unorthodox descriptions were bizarrely relatable while her storytelling was as pleasant as taking a relaxing walk in the park with a witty friend. I was intrigued and inspired by her staggering creativity. This was a fantastic book with exciting twists and a philosophical ending I will not soon forget. Read on for further analysis!

Spoilers Below!

Spoilers to Follow!

Overview:

This book asks the reader to consider what, as humanity, do we consider to be valuable throughout time. There are several humorous moments when the narrator is explaining a modern phenomenon to Graham and he's shock or confused as to why something is important today. Perhaps the author is asking us the same thing- does our society place value on the things that we should? As shown through the characters of the past and future learning from each other, I believe the answer is just as much of a blended truth.

In terms of pacing, the book started slow, but not unpleasant. I was completely at ease to watch Graham and our unnamed narrator learn from each other, be surprised at life together, and ultimately fall simply for each other's time-foreign idiosyncrasies. The action didn't pick up until the latter half of the book, where we are launched into a life-and-death race to save the planet, the resources, and each other. The saga ends rather abruptly, but in a way that completely made sense- the ending couldn't be described because the future actions of our narrator had yet to come to pass. If you know who Adela is, that will make sense.

I'd seen a few critiques of this book- that it was "doing too much" with the genre blends, it was wrong to reimagine a life for a historical figure, and her similes were weird. I'd offer a few counters:

• The genre blends worked for me because the book is not wholly one thing. This is poetically reflective of people as well, especially as Bradley examines dual-heritage throughout. People are never just "one thing" and I think this book's "sum of the parts" approach parallels that idea in a lovely, subtle fashion.

• In terms of Graham's life, if one reads the author's note at the end, it's obvious she went to great lengths to try and portray him as close to the real man as possible. Whenever a work of historical fiction is presented, we know authors take certain liberties to fill in the blanks history leaves behind. That's okay with me.

• Her similes were weird- and I loved them. They were out-of-the-box and always still made sense somehow. I thought that was reflective of the overall creativity of her writing. Weird is good. Weird is unique.

There was a bit of romance towards the end of the novel. I say that as a warning because it didn't exactly shy away from descriptions. But it was done in a casual, matter-of-fact tone, like listening to your least-prudish friend talk about a night out. It happened as it happened- using euphemisms wouldn't change the facts. I didn't find it particularly offensive, but a more sensitive reader may.

Characters:

Narrator:

Our female heroine never tells us her name, but we are told it is difficult to pronounce because of her dual Cambodian/English heritage. This reflects the author's heritage too, and she uses this character to convey some of what I can only assume are her own thoughts or experiences. Our narrator is funny with a dry, sarcastic sense of humor. She tackles the Ministry's bureaucracy with nonchalant defiance. We learn the most about her through childhood anecdotes or relationships with her family. She's relatable, comfortably human, and enjoyable to read.

Commander Graham Gore (1847):

The author did a significant amount of research to inform her interpretation of the real-life man aboard Sir Franklin's tragic expedition. In the real story, the entire crew starved to death, the last of which resorted to cannibalism, research shows. In this story, Graham is pulled out of his timeline before his tragic fate comes to pass- a fact that haunts him throughout the novel. He exhibits a very real survivor's guilt and his plodding struggle to adjust to that reality remains a lynchpin in his arc. Outside his internal conflicts, he's a charming leader and a kind, inquisitive soul. It was adorable watching him marvel at Spotify and discover motorcycles for the first time.

Adela:

We honestly do not like this character for most of the book. There are little tells of her true identity throughout but I honestly didn't notice the impressive trail of bread crumbs until the twist at the end. Adela is our narrator from the future. She's back in the past trying to fix the course of the future- one she helped create. What I found funny, is that she's so rude to our narrator. One would think we'd like to be kind to our younger, more naive selves, but not Adela. She's mostly annoyed with everything our narrator says, chiding her often for her naivety. What's interesting about this character in a time travel setting, is that she doesn't represent the definitive future. We aren't sure if she's on the "right" side of history but it doesn't matter- the narrator we know has time yet to make different choices and perhaps affect a different outcome.

Margaret (Maggie) Kemble (1665):

Maggie is extracted from the Great Plague of London and happily embraces her life in the 21st century. With her antiquated version of English, happy-go-lucky personality, and adorable, old-timey insults, the feisty woman became a fast friend to all and one of my favorite characters. While some of the other "expats", as they're referred to, struggled to adjust, Maggie felt liberated- her life suddenly expanded far beyond its former confines of cooking potatoes and marrying a man. She was charming and I loved her.

Captain Arthur Reginald-Smyth (1916):

Plucked from the Battle of the Somme in WWI, Arthur does his best to embrace the new opportunity at life. As a bisexual man in the early 20th century, he loved privately, quietly, his affections never allowed to leave the confines of his mind. But in the modern world, he finds joy being able to truly be himself. We see Arthur struggle with his PTSD from WWI as well and is able to adjust easier with modern assistance. He is a gentle, kind soul who serves as a steadfast friend to both our narrator and Graham.

Themes:

Forgiveness and Hope:

I'm going to touch on these more in the ending section, but there's strong elements of characters learning how to offer these to both themselves and others.

Dual-Heritage Experience:

Our narrator discusses the experience of living with dual heritage in London on several counts. There's a duality between her opinion on the matter and her sister's. Her sister puts their most uncomfortable childhood experiences in writing for the world to see, claiming it as a way to take back power or truth. Our narrator disagrees- she sees it as vulnerability and unnecessary embarrassment. I thought this was an excellent vehicle for the author to portray both perspectives.

Guilt/PTSD:

The narrator, Arthur (WWI Captain), and Graham all experience PTSD in different ways but there is a solidarity for what they all go through, a comradery of struggle without definition. The narrator experiences the assassination of her former handler before her very eyes, Graham suffered starvation and disease in the arctic, then faces survivor's guilt in the modern world, while Arthur remembers the trenches of the first World War with dread. All struggle in different ways and it was thought-provoking to see these cross-sections explored as the human experience.

Examples of Brilliant Writing:

Bradley has numerous lines in here that gave me pause. Her writing was bizarrely unorthodox at times and I found her descriptions wonderfully fascinating. I'd just like to highlight some interesting ones:

The Ending

The ending waned philosophical and I believe carried the heart of the author's message for this novel. Let's take a look at the last line:

Wow, what a final note. I thought this was a truly beautiful sentiment and the more I thought about it, the more I believe it to be true. What's beautiful about forgiveness, is it's a gift we can give each other. A gift we can give ourselves. It's a reset, a do-over, a flash back to the you before you made a mistake. And if we are willing to accept this gift, we can learn from the mistake, and do better. The beautiful thing about hope, is it can overcome even the worst circumstances- we can imagine and work towards a life that is different.

Time-travel may not exist yet in our physical worlds; we can't go back and change history or avoid the troubles of our time. But Kaliane Bradley offers that it can exist in our minds and our relationships with others. So perhaps, in some way, we can transcend time through the gifts of hope and forgiveness. What a gorgeous thought.