Seattle, 1941. Grace Vandenberg, 21, is having a bad day. Minutes after Pearl Harbor is attacked, she learns that her boyfriend is a time traveler from 2000 who has abandoned her for a future he insists they cannot share. Determined to save their love, she follows him into the new century. But just when happiness is within her grasp, she accidentally enters a second time portal and exits in 1918. Distraught and heartbroken, Grace starts a new life in the age of Woodrow Wilson, silent movies, and the Spanish flu. She meets her parents as young, single adults and befriends a handsome, wounded Army captain just back from the war. In THE SHOW, the sequel to THE MINE, Grace finds love and friendship in the ashes of tragedy as she endures the trial of her life.
I'll admit, this has been sitting here and I've been dreading starting it. The cover shows a theater curtain. And the title is 'The Show'. This doesn't inspire enthusiasm in me. Visions of a stodgy old couple watching a play went through my head. So, I kept looking at it and looking at it until I finally realized I had to pick it up and get it over with.
It's awesome! It's not a stodgy old couple watching a play at all! It's time travel! Not only that, it's in-depth time travel from the most unlikely portals!
This book hit me a lot harder than I thought it would. Each time is carefully planned and executed to avoid confusing you too much. You can easily feel each time period as if you're actually a part of it. The mechanics of time travel can be pretty tricky too, but Heldt has given us just enough information to make us wonder. We aren't bogged down with thought about it, because the story moves at such a brisk pace, but afterwards you find yourself wondering how everyone's lives will be affected long-term.
As a character, Grace is incredible. She travels through time with passion and grace. In each time period you get to see a new side of her. It begs the question of if we would be the same person if we were plopped into a different era. It's actually a pretty deep thinking book. You find yourself wondering what you would do in the same situation. You have a life and lose it. So you build a new one. When the opportunity arises to return to your old life, do you take it? Are you still the same person you were? What happens to the life you leave behind?
This book was deceptively wonderful. Please don't let the cover or title fool you. Honestly, I wouldn't give this a second chance if I saw it in the store, but it's definitely a case of mistaken identity. What's enclosed in these pages is sheer gold. It's an intense study of human nature in all of its flaws and glory.
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Shawn
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The old grey donkey, Eeyore stood by himself in a thistly corner of the Forest, his front feet well apart, his head on one side, and thought about things. Sometimes he thought sadly to himself, "Why?" and sometimes he thought, "Wherefore?" and sometimes he thought, "Inasmuch as which?" and sometimes he didn't quite know what he was thinking about.
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