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Monday, March 28, 2016

Magical Monday

Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor (HMH Books for Young Readers hardcover, 1 March 2016).

Sixteen-year-old Hope Walton is very bright, and has an eidetic memory, but that doesn't help to figure out what happened to her mother, who was apparently killed in an earthquake overseas.  Hope doesn't believe it, but she can't make anyone take her seriously.

When her aunt invites her to spend the summer with her in Scotland, Hope is at first reluctant.  Because of her severe claustrophobia, she hates to fly.  But with the help of a sedative prescribed by her doctor, she manages it.  

She doesn't remember Christopher Manor, the estate in the Highlands where her mother had grown up, though apparently she had been there as a very young child, but she is impressed by the huge stone house and the extensive grounds.

Unable to sleep one night, soon after her arrival, she heads to the library to find something to read, but is distracted by the sound of heavy metal music.  She follows the sound to a curtained wall, behind which she finds a hidden doorway into a secret room.

What goes on behind that door has already been given away in the summary on the bookflap, as well as in many reviews, so although it feels wrong, I can tell you that Hope's aunt and mother are part of a secret society of time travellers.  Hope's mother is not dead, but has travelled back in time to the 12th Century, and been stranded there.  

Reviewers have called Into the Dim an Outlander  for young adults, and that works.  There is certainly some romance involved, though because it's aimed at teens, there's no overt sexual content.  

Those who enjoyed Kerstin Gier's Ruby Red Trilogy, also a series about a secretive group of time travellers, will devour this book.




FTC Full Disclosure:  I borrowed this book from my local library.

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