I had this very conversation not too long ago with a coworker: If you could live in any era, which one would it be?
The conversation was both fascinating and sobering. Every time we began to wax nostalgic about a time we chose, the inevitable atrocities associated with that time came to mind.
I mean, I am a sucker for the 1980s, but … AIDS, apartheid, an ongoing cold war, serial killers, and just really awful fashion choices … about the only good thing to come out of that decade was the music — of course — and Top Gun.
Go back a tiny bit further, the 1970s or even the 1960s and sure — maybe a little less greed, fewer tech toys to plug in … but then you are sliding back into even more overt racism, fewer women’s rights, diseases without a cure … the point being, any time we thought we had a time to go, we remembered why today could be worse.
So having found “Retro” at one of my favorite indie bookshops, the concept of a time travel agency opened the doors to think about the possibilities again. Jessica M. Goldstein’s taken adventure travel and turned it on its head.
Our protagonist, Ash, is a down-on-her-luck, 30-year-old wannabe actress who is limping along in life, living vicariously through her best friend (and famous actress) Pebbles, waiting tables and office temping. Having given up on the dream and jobless, again, a want ad for Retro pops up and before she knows it, she’s moving to Washington, D.C. and into a company-provided, decked out apartment.
Ash is officially a time travel agent.
Making fast friends with her fellow agents Jane and Luca, Ash begins traveling across time, from the Old West to Studio 54 to near-suicidal water parks, for work and for pleasure. Singled out by the company’s mysterious founder, Ro, for reasons unknown, she’s slowly losing her present day self to her time-traveling occupation, with a lover out on the timeline and a crush at the office.
Like any thrill-seeking occupation, it’s fun until it isn’t anymore. Ash finds herself struggling with the consequences of having roots that aren’t settled anymore.
What happens next is for you to find out — this is a highly entertaining read and is deserving of a little more attention. And it could leave you wondering about where you’d like to go. For me? I think I am fine staying put in the present, though seeing mid-80s Prince playing somewhere in Minneapolis would be amazing. Live Aid at Wembley. 1986 Super Bowl. 2016 World Series. The NASA control room when we landed on the moon.
The best books leave you daydreaming. Thank you, Jessica.
LitzyDitz 