Time After Time
A Novel
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4.5 • 13 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
A magical love story, inspired by the legend of a woman who vanished from Grand Central Terminal, sweeps readers from the 1920s to World War II and beyond.
“Readers who enjoyed Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife will be enchanted.”—Publishers Weekly
“I utterly loved this clever, charming, hopeful tale of true love against all odds.”—Ariel Lawhon, New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia
On a clear December morning in 1937, at the famous gold clock in Grand Central Terminal, Joe Reynolds, a hardworking railroad man from Queens, meets a vibrant young woman who seems mysteriously out of place. Nora Lansing is a Manhattan socialite and an aspiring artist whose flapper clothing, pearl earrings, and talk of the Roaring Twenties don’t seem to match the bleak mood of Depression-era New York. Captivated by Nora from her first electric touch, Joe despairs when he tries to walk her home and she disappears. Finding her again—and again—will become the focus of his love and his life.
As thousands of visitors pass under the famous celestial blue ceiling each day, Joe and Nora create a life of infinite love in a finite space, taking full advantage of the “Terminal City” within a city. But when the construction of another landmark threatens their future, Nora and Joe are forced to test the limits of their freedom—and their love.
Praise for Time After Time
“I’ll never again set foot in Grand Central Terminal without looking over my shoulder for Nora and Joe, or marveling at the station itself—a backdrop as intriguing as the love story that unfolds beneath its star-studded ceiling.”—Georgia Hunter, New York Times bestselling author of We Were the Lucky Ones
“In lively prose set against the fascinating history of Grand Central . . . Grunwald asks a compelling question: How long would we stay in one place [for love]?”—Time
“The spectacular Lisa Grunwald has written a classic story of fate, true love, art, and chance with truth and beauty. You will want to share it with every reader you know.”—Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of Tony’s Wife
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Grunwald (The Irresistible Henry House) delivers a satisfying supernatural romance about lovers brought together across time. In December 1937, Joe Reynolds, a railway worker from Queens, meets an oddly dressed woman in Grand Central Station. Joe thinks Nora, who is dressed like a '20s flapper, looks like she's lost and offers to walk her home. She accepts, but as they approach her wealthy neighborhood, she disappears the moment he turns his back. She reappears each December, and each time vanishes when she strays too far from Grand Central. Eventually, by returning to the address where Nora told him she lives, Joe pieces together that Nora died in 1925, and, with the parameters of her existence set, Nora and Joe try to build a life within the walls of the station, dining at the Oyster Bar and meeting in rooms at the Biltmore Hotel. But as Joe ages and struggles to balance his love for Nora with the needs of his extended family, Nora stays the same age, living free from responsibility. Grunwald uses Grand Central well as a microcosm for exploring the changes to New York and the U.S. between the Depression and WWII, but the love story at the book's heart relies too much on magic, and simmering tensions (such as Joe's controlling nature) remain underdeveloped. Despite this, readers who enjoyed Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife will be enchanted.
