Lisavet Levy's father is a German watchmaker whose watches enable the wearer to access the realm known as time space, a library filled with books containing memories of both the living and the dead. In 1938, when her Jewish father failed to return, eleven-year-old Lisavet escaped the Nazis by entering the time space--only to become trapped there. When Lisavet sees government agents entering the time space to try to change history by erasing memories, she begins collecting what remains to preserve them. Time passes, and Lisavet grows up in the time space, with only a specter for company, until 1949, when she meets American spy Ernest Duquesne. They fall in love, and Lisavet is torn between the outside world and the safety she feels in the time space.
Flash forward to 1965 in Washington, D.C., and sixteen-year-old Amelia Duquesne is mourning the disappearance of her uncle Ernest. She is approached by Moira Donnelly, head of the CIA-controlled department for which her uncle worked. Moira enlists Amelia to try to find a book her uncle was looking for in the time space when he disappeared. Amelia wants answers, and working with Moira is the best way to get them.
This is an enjoyable book that follows the exploits of Lisavet, Moira, and Amelia across different time lines. The time space realm is especially intriguing. The point that no two people remember the same incident the same way, and whose memories are unreliable, was brought home. It gave me pause about the perspective of those responsible for writing history, and just how fragile truth is.
4/5 stars.
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