Strangers in Time
Set amidst the bombings at the end of WWII, Strangers in Time follows two teenagers, Charlie (14) and Molly (15), from very different backgrounds. Charlie is barely scraping by, avoiding school, and too young for work, while Molly is returning to London after having been evacuated with millions of others. They meet, and their friendship guides them through their increasingly intertwined traumas occasioned by the war. They find a friend, bookshop owner Ignatius Oliver. Mutual trust is built between them all, and the chaos of their own lives brings the trio tenuously together.
Each of the three guards a secret that eventually gets exposed. Molly grapples with her missing parents, and she is determined to locate them and find out the truth of their absence. Charlie’s attempts at petty theft are plagued by both his conscience and a rival juvenile thief, and Ignatius is beset by his wife’s death and a secret she may have harbored.
As outside forces converge (Molly’s stalker, Charlie’s nemesis, and Ignatius’ seeming double life), all secrets are laid bare, and the three learn their friendship is ultimately their protection.
A well-crafted story by a seasoned author, Strangers in Time vividly brings war-torn London to life. We feel the resilience, fear, resignation, and want that permeated that era and, on a micro-level, what this does to interpersonal relationships. How we act in times of internal and external stress might not be how we act in times of peace and security, but it brings out our truest self which often surprises us in the end.
