Times of Turmoil (The Time Locket)
1718 Pennsylvania is indeed a time of turmoil for Duncan Melville and his time-travelling wife, Erin, in this second of The Time Locket books, spin-offs of the Graham Saga series. Settled on the Papegoja estate near Chester, life is complicated for Erin, dragged back from contemporary times, where being Black had its challenges, to a time where she has no value at all, other than as a slave. Between the two of them, Duncan and Erin have made enemies along the way, and things come to a head when they encounter Hyland Nelson beating an indentured boy black and blue. Their rescue of him rankles Nelson and his son, and it soon becomes clear why they want the boy back. Tim is a watcher and a listener, and becomes invaluable to Erin over time. Papegoja is invaded by various villains looking to wreak revenge for some sort of wrong, including Felix Chardon, who is carrying the deadly time locket which Erin has encountered before. But she has no desire to be flung back through the maelstrom of time and space again.
This is a standalone novel which doesn’t require a lot of exposition to be clear what’s going on. If you want to know why Erin came to be in 1718, you’ll have to read the first book, The Whirlpools of Time. What is clear is that Anna Belfrage is a wonderfully evocative storyteller, weaving the fantasy of time-travel into a detailed history of early 1700s Pennsylvania; and that the locket is responsible for a whole heap of trouble. Now Pennsylvania is following other states in drafting anti-miscegenation laws which will make it impossible for the Melvilles to remain where they are. Belfrage balances the participation of villains in her story to pull out the very best in courage and strength of character from her main protagonists. Readers of Paula Brackston and Diana Gabaldon will enjoy this gripping romance series.
