EBENEZERWorld
The YA author’s third novel for adults wears its quantum physics lightly, but it is a delight to be lost in its rich, character-driven world
Read full story on theguardian.com →
Books — Bec Kavanagh
Anyone familiar with Jaclyn Moriarty’s work will love her quiet whimsy and gentle magic. Across her extensive catalogue of books for adults and children, Moriarty has a flair for knitting together the worlds of magic and reality. In Time Travel For Beginners, Moriarty’s third novel for adults, the eponymous time travel agency is a gateway to possibility and wonder – for characters and readers alike.
Found between a gelato bar and a pharmacy in Sydney’s Neutral Bay, the agency is neither hi-tech nor magical. Described at varying points as “riotous”, “unassuming” and “a joke”, it isn’t exactly the height of prestige. Protagonist Anna takes a job there in a concussed haze after she’s been hit by a car. But even though Anna doesn’t believe in time travel, from her first day she senses something special about her new workplace.
Time travel here comes with a few rules: you can only travel to the past, and nothing you do there will make a difference to the present. Many punters write the agency off as a slightly expensive illusion – and part of Anna’s job is responding to various emails from customers complaining that their trip wasn’t as expected. For some, the agency is a chance to revisit their personal timeline, for reasons ranging from checking that they’ve turned the oven off to reclaiming precious moments with loved ones. For Teddy, the second of the novel’s three narrators, it’s a way to revisit the early days of his relationship, as he tries to understand why his wife left him. For single-mum Jade, the agency is a cruel scam, preying on vulnerable people – a downright danger.
Related: Best Australian books out in August: new Meg Mason, musicians tell all and a time-travel tale by ‘a master storyteller’
Moriarty explores her characters’ nostalgia for the past with all the awareness of the present, considering ethical implications of facilitating what might become people’s addictions. The novel wears its quantum physics lightly. There’s enough scaffolding that the mechanics feel believable, but not so much that they become convoluted. Probability isn’t really the point here; this is a novel about possibility – what could happen? What might our lives have been?
There’s a strong thread of romance running through the heart of Time Travel for Beginners; Teddy wants to win back his wife, while Anna and Jade are both searching for love. This particular plotline is sweet but conventional, grounded in Anna’s frustrating assumption that her life is lacking without a partner. Even though she considers that perhaps her life with her daughter, Nicola, and sister, Monique, is “enough”, she longs for a happy ending, and sees herself as “the princess in the fairytale”, waiting to find her prince. Anna’s job at the Time Travel Agency gives her a real sense of purpose and belonging, but the possibilities for her happiness are still deeply entangled in her romantic outcomes, which is disappointingly bland for a novel otherwise so rich in imagination.
More interesting, though, is the way that Moriarty speaks to the challenges of single-motherhood. Jade and Anna have daughters in their early teens, and both girls – Nicola and Holly – are finding their balance in the shifting sands of adolescent friendship. Moriarty’s years of experience writing for and about young people are evident in her portrayal of them here – she perfectly captures the savage heartbreak of peer exclusion, and the desperate need to fit in. Jade and Anna struggle to connect with their daughters, keenly aware of their vulnerability but increasingly unable to protect them.
This growing sense of maternal powerlessness makes Jade and Anna reflect on the early days of parenting, and consider what they might have done differently. The relationship between both mothers and their girls is authentic and raw, offering a complex lens through which time travel might be seen as either a way for Anna to understand her relationship with her daughter, or to avoid her. Similarly, Teddy’s visits to his own childhood reveal a deeply flawed mother and cast a new light on his adult relationships. Despite the novel’s optimistic overtones, the family dynamics are realistically imperfect, and full of missed opportunities to connect.
Supporting the key players is a delightful cast of eccentrics. Of these, the most interesting is Dr Nastevski, the oddball scientist behind the agency, who solves most problems with baking and office supplies. Although she makes only minor appearances in the narrative, she acts as a sort of Wizard of Oz figurehead, and her interference at key moments in the novel help to direct its course. Her warm intelligence earns her the respect of her clients and employees and bridges the gap between the novel’s real and speculative elements.
As a novel so driven by its characters, there are moments where the intersections between their narratives are overly complex and it can be irritating as withheld information is slowly teased out. But there is satisfaction in seeing how it all comes together, which more than makes up for it. Generally, it’s a delight to be lost in the world of Time Travel For Beginners, a novel that wears its heart on its sleeve.
Jaclyn Moriarty’s Time Travel for Beginners is out now (Ultimo Press; $34.99)
Found between a gelato bar and a pharmacy in Sydney’s Neutral Bay, the agency is neither hi-tech nor magical. Described at varying points as “riotous”, “unassuming” and “a joke”, it isn’t exactly the height of prestige. Protagonist Anna takes a job there in a concussed haze after she’s been hit by a car. But even though Anna doesn’t believe in time travel, from her first day she senses something special about her new workplace.
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Bec Kavanagh. Published 27 Aug 2026, 03:00 pm.
Most relevant
Follow live updates from the main group phase draw with John Ashdown
Read on theguardian.com →Editor’s choice
Officials said hundreds were killed in Nepal and Tibet in a massive flood. Stunned witnesses described a torrent of debris and water carrying away villages in minutes.
Read on The New York Times →Also developing
A spending proposal backed by opposition parties — the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) —cleared parliament after a plan submitted by President Lai Ching-te’s government was rejected
Read on The Hindu →