The Ministry of Time: The romantic, sci-fi, comedic, literary, genre-defying bestseller

A BOY MEETS A GIRL. THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE. A FINGER MEETS A TRIGGER. THE BEGINNING MEETS THE END. ENGLAND IS FOREVER. ENGLAND MUST FALL.

In the near future, a disaffected civil servant is offered a lucrative job in a mysterious new government ministry gathering ‘expats’ from across history to test the limits of time-travel.

Her role is to work as a ‘bridge’: living with, assisting and monitoring the expat known as ‘1847’ – Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to find himself alive and surrounded by outlandish concepts such as ‘washing machine’, ‘Spotify’ and ‘the collapse of the British Empire’. With an appetite for discovery and a seven-a-day cigarette habit, he soon adjusts; and during a long, sultry summer he and his bridge move from awkwardness to genuine friendship, to something more.

But as the true shape of the project that brought them together begins to emerge, Gore and the bridge are forced to confront their past choices and imagined futures. Can love triumph over the structures and histories that have shaped them? And how do you defy history when history is living in your house?

Shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize
Shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction
Shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards Breakthrough Author
Longlisted for the Climate Fiction Prize

One of the 18 best novels of the year for the Sunday Times
A book of the year pick in the Guardian, New York Times, Independent, Spectator, Red, NPR, People, Slate, Sydney Morning Herald and Smithsonian Magazine

‘The most talked-about debut of 2024 . . . The combination of whimsy and high seriousness works brilliantly’ SUNDAY TIMES, The 18 best novels of the year

‘Smart, funny and moving, this debut has been the hit of the year’ GUARDIAN, Five of the best science fiction books of 2024

‘An addictive sci-fi romantic comedy . . . Laugh-out-loud funny and a suprisingly powerful meditation on the climate crisis, it’s above all exciting, fun and a good old-fashioned page turner that you’ll recommend to all your friends’ INDEPENDENT, Best new books to read in 2024

‘Simply adorable . . . It’s the book I have recommended to friends with the most success’ SPECTATOR, Books of the Year

‘Fast moving and riotously entertaining, a genre-busting blend of wit and wonder’ OBSERVER, 10 best new novelists for 2024

‘Utterly winning . . . Readers, I envy you: There’s a smart, witty novel in your future’ WASHINGTON POST

‘Thought-provoking and horribly clever – but it also made me laugh out loud’ ALICE WINN, author of In Memoriam

A Barack Obama reading pick