Reviewed by Ian Lipke
David Baldacci has tried his hand at historical fiction in his latest book Strangers in Time. While the meaning of the title eludes me, and the classification of the book not being given as Young Adult, these lose any importance in a cracking story of fourteen-year-old Charlie Matters and fifteen-year-old Holly Wakefield who team up to take on World War II London.
The interwoven stories of the children are exciting but pale into insignificance when seen in context of the tale of London itself, the brooding hulk of a city which, battered night after night by bombs and rockets, refuses to give an inch. While the story of its people is the story of stolidity under fire, the city takes on life itself to earn full characterhood.
The issues facing the children and their friend, bookshop owner Ignatius Oliver, are fierce.
The critic for the New York Times has captured the situation with graphic detail when she writes “As German V-1 and V-2 rockets wreak havoc on the city, the three forge a new family, the existence of which is soon threatened by deadly secrets that simmer beneath the surface. Absorbing and deeply researched, Strangers in Time is a celebration of the books that change us, the families we choose, and the capacity we all have to rise from the ashes and find our way home.”
Baldacci draws a pen picture of each of the characters, and it is left up to the reader to decide whether this sketch should remain a drawing or is developed into a completely drawn picture. I became frustrated as skills, hitherto hidden, are revealed in the seemingly invincible Break & Enter methodologies shown by Charlie and the knowledge of nursing that Holly can call upon. As for the assistance from government instrumentalities that Ignatius Oliver can involve, that is amazing.
In Baldacci’s virtuosic hands, Strangers in Time not only sets a standard for historical thriller writing but also reveals a profound and even poetic exploration of the eternal power of friendship, grace, and love to overcome the harshest cruelty of war, hatred, and evil. Yet, and there is always a yet, how much more convincing would this novel have been if its characters were fully adult.
Evidence exists to suggest that Baldacci chose to complete this book in a hurry rather than produce a full examination of his topic. What the author chose to include and what he opted to leave out is entirely a matter for him. His subject matter is so rich it seems a shame that more was not made of the two hoodlum policemen and a description of the gallows and perhaps of the condemned were not included. On the obverse side such material would obviate the necessity of including the long boring passages that conclude the book.
This novel has its strengths and weaknesses as this review has attempted to show. On balance, it is another win for David Baldacci.
Strangers in Time
(2025)
by David Baldacci
Macmillan
ISBN:978-1035015795
$24.99; 447pp