Hello! It’s been a little while since I shared any books here, but I have some really exciting reads coming up over the summer months, perfect for relaxing in the sunshine and reading outside as the warmer temperatures are finally here!

Today I am thrilled to be sharing my review for Gabrielle Meyer’s new novel, For A Lifetime, about a pair of time travelling identical twin sisters who must choose between their lives in Salem in 1692 and 1912 New York. Thank you so much to Bethany House Publishers and Austenprose for gifting me a copy of the book in exchange for review.

Time crossers

Grace and Hope are time-crossers: they have two lives running parallel in different time periods, swapping between 1692 and 1912 together, knowing that they have to pick one life before they reach their twenty-fifth birthday. As the witch trials consume their community in Salem in 1692, they decide together that they will commit to their life in 1912: there, Grace is a journalist and Hope an actress turned aviator, with dreams of becoming a record-breaking female pilot.

It doesn’t hurt that Hope is in love with her flying teacher, handsome Frenchman Lucas Voland. Grace wishes their friend Isaac in Salem would love her back, but unrequited love is something she will take for a life free of suspicion and horrendous treatment in 1912.

However, tragedy soon strikes, meaning their plans are thrown into disarray, with only a couple of months to go until their twenty-fifth birthday. As it fast approaches, it becomes harder and harder to choose which timeline they will commit to, and if they will be able to stay together.

Timeless

So this book is actually the third in Meyer’s Timeless series, but you definitely do not need to have read the other two before you start For A Lifetime. There are links between the characters, but not enough that will hold you back from becoming engulfed in the plot of the story – although I am keen to go back and read the first two novels, When the Day Comes and In this Moment, now I’ve finished For A Lifetime.

I love a novel that has different timelines, though I read few with actual time travel (Outlander being the big exception!). This made me question why I haven’t read more: I truly enjoyed Meyer’s novel. Admittedly, it took me a little while to get into it, but I think that was more to do with the fact that my excitement over the impending release of Bridgerton has had me in a Regency reading bubble. However, once I was in, I was hooked.

A little piece of history

Meyer has picked two really interesting and highly contrasting time periods. It goes without saying that seventeenth-century Salem, with the incredibly cruel witch trials and treatment of women who were innocent, is both hard-hitting and fascinating, and Meyer also explores religious tensions between the Puritans and Quakers.

And, of course, later Gilded Age New York is highly exciting: only three years after the Wright Brothers flew, Meyer captures the fervour – and danger – of flight. Moreover, it is really interesting to see Grace and Hope take on groundbreaking roles as journalists and pilots in highly male-dominated industries.

You can tell Meyer researched her subject well, and I loved all the little details peppered through the story: from Grace and Hope narrowly missing going on the Titanic, to timing their presence in Salem for just before the end of the witch trials.

Although I know a bit about both of these time periods, reading something different to my usual has had me going down the rabbit hole of researching each period that bit more. This is one of the many reasons I love historical fiction: it’s a fascinating window into a period, place and people, which always pushes me to want to find out more.

I definitely recommend Meyer’s novel, whether you like either of these historical periods, or novels about time travel in general. Grace and Hope were wonderful dual protagonists, with unique personalities and ambitions that made this a highly compelling story!