An Ocean of Minutes
A Novel
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3.7 • 17 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A shortlisted finalist for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize and the ALA 2019 Reading List for Science Fiction
“Thea Lim’s An Ocean of Minutes is that rare thing—a speculative novel that is as heartfelt as it is philosophical. In lucid prose, Lim lays bare the complexities of migration and displacement, while offering a clear-eyed meditation on the elusive nature of human devotion.” —Esi Edugyan, Man Booker Prize Finalist and author of Washington Black
“Lim paints a strange and unfamiliar world with her novel, full of fascinating social commentary on class differences, racism, and sexism.” —The Los Angeles Times
In September 1981, Polly and Frank arrive at the time travel terminal at Houston Intercontinental Airport. One will travel, and one will stay.
America is in the grip of a deadly flu pandemic. Frank has caught the virus and Polly will do whatever it takes to save him, even if it means risking everything. So she agrees to a radical plan—time travel has been invented in the future to thwart the virus. If she signs up for a one-way-trip into the future to work as a bonded laborer, the company will pay for the life-saving treatment Frank needs. Polly promises to meet Frank again in Galveston, Texas, where she will arrive in twelve years.
But when Polly is re-routed an extra five years into the future, Frank is nowhere to be found. Alone in a changed and divided America, with no status and no money, Polly must navigate a new life and find a way to locate Frank, to discover if he is alive, and if their love has endured. “Lim’s enthralling novel succeeds on every level: as a love story, an imaginative thriller, and a dystopian narrative” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
You don’t need to be science fiction fan to appreciate An Ocean of Minutes, which takes a farfetched idea and makes it supremely relatable. The lives of Frank and Polly, twentysomethings in love, are thrown off track when Frank becomes infected by the flu that’s wiping out the population of Thea Lim’s fictional 1980s America. Polly can save him—but only if she agrees to transport herself into the ‘90s. For all of its time travel and alternate realities, An Ocean of Minutes explores very real, all-too-human challenges and dilemmas.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lim's stellar follow-up to 2007's The Same Woman concerns Polly Nader, who signs an agreement to travel through time from 1981 to 1993 to save her boyfriend. During a road trip in 1981, Buffalo residents Polly and Frank are stuck in Texas as state borders are closed to prevent a virulent strain of flu from spreading. Due to time-travel limitations, doctors are unable to travel back far enough to prevent the pandemic's onset, but people are being recruited by the company TimeRaiser to help rebuild the future. After Frank is infected by the virus, the two decide to separate; Polly strikes a 32-month deal to work for TimeRaiser and plans to reunite with Frank upon arrival. Bonded workers spend their time doing jobs like riding exercise bikes for hours in order to power resorts and are disparagingly referred to as journeymen in a future where the country has been divided into the United States and America. Polly is in the latter (composed mainly of resorts for the wealthy), but Buffalo where Polly assumes Frank is is in the former. Polly's lowly status and lack of funds keep her from knowing if Frank is even alive, and she isn't allowed to leave America for the United States until her contract is up. She endures betrayals and despair as she tries to break free of her servitude and make the potentially hopeless journey to find Frank. Lim's enthralling novel succeeds on every level: as a love story, an imaginative thriller, and a dystopian narrative.
