Before the Time Machine

or “A gem of a tale told so well that I found myself compelled to continue reading until it ended. Not many authors can do that for me. Very highly recommended.” – John C, LibraryThing “This is a story where the effort you put into getting into the story is well rewarded.” – GoodReads “The writing is whimsical and I felt I was truly there with the author and with Wells himself. I found myself transported and quite taken with the journey and with the character of Wells that develops. Climb inside this book and be transported in so many lovely ways.”  – Julie, Amazon reviewer “The novel’s protagonist, a solitary, unassuming scholar with a dry sense of humor, is good company, and her relationship with her imagined Wells is complex and often poignant…” – k, Amazon reviewer

What happens when an ordinary historical scholar and an up-and-coming writer of a century before compare notes?

In nineteenth-century England, young H.G. Wells struggles to become a success as a science teacher against the odds of poverty and low social status. But he has a talent for telling stories, and a sense of his own destiny.

Over a century later in California, middle-aged Katherine is a college professor who creates a research project about young Wells solely so she can visit the England she knows from books and television.

He works his way up by making his own opportunities, challenging the systems designed to keep him in his place. She observes the quirkiness of everyday experiences, noting her encounters with strangers, archivists, and cathedral canons, even as she faces challenges in her own life.

They become companions, their journeys punctuated by conversations about life, love, illness, success, learning, death, and self-fulfillment.

Their trajectories converge across time, in a friendship as inspiring as it is unlikely, a story of a women out of time, and a man ahead of his.

Before the Time Machine
Novella,156 pages
Literary Fiction / Historical Fiction
ISBN: 979-8-9853027-0-7 (paperback) 
ISBN: 979-8-9869845-3-7 (hardcover)
ISBN: 979-8-9853027-1-4 (e-book) 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021924696

If you’re in the US and would like an autographed copy, you may buy directly here.