My Dirty Little Book Of Stolen Time

By Liz Jensen

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Charlotte is a whore in Copenhagen. It is 1897, and business is bad, so she and Fru Schleswig, an older woman who has accompanied her from the orphanage, take jobs as cleaners in the house of the widow Krak. She is planning to remarry but has her husband the Professor really died or just disappeared?

Charlotte discovers a strange machine in a locked basement room. It transports her, Fru Schleswig and the Professor to London in the 21st century where Charlotte discovers true love. But, of course, it does not run smoothly as they move between centuries and struggle to get to when and where they want to be.

Narrated by Charlotte, this novel is quirky in style as well as content. There are some amusing references to current society, but it is rather scanty in the historical detail. The plot is light, the characters exaggerated verging on caricature. The use of the ampersand instead of spelling out ‘and’ is distracting and unnecessary. Was the author or editor trying to emulate texting to attract young readers? I hope this is not a trend that will be adopted by others.