Tremors through Time
Lachlann An Damh, a farmer in 14th-century Scotland, has just lost his family to the plague when an earthquake sends him scrambling. Deidre Chisholm, a professor of medieval studies in 2016 Houston, moves into a new house and discovers that her next-door neighbor bears a striking resemblance to the man depicted in a painting handed down through generations in her family. It’s not giving away too much to say Lachlann is the man next door and indeed the man in the portrait. Somehow the tremors he felt sent him slipping through time.
As a scholar of the medieval era, Deidre is well-suited to help Lachlann make sense of the modern world, while also introducing him to vestiges of old ways: Christmas tree farms, a local medieval festival. They share a love of gardening and a past of unsatisfying marriages—his a union arranged by family, and hers a brief and abusive marriage that cost her her connection to her own family.
For most of the book, the mysteries of the time shift are secondary to the romance. Indeed, clues that catch the reader’s eye are presented and then dropped for several chapters. And some questions are not clearly resolved.
But the story is a fun and at times steamy read exploring how a modern woman and a medieval man might come to terms with their realities and build trust and a relationship. It’s a fantasy of finding the right match the second time around and across the centuries.
