In the near future, a civil servant is offered a new and exciting position. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible. She is tasked with working as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as “1847” or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on a doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by concepts such as “washing machines” and “the collapse of the British Empire.” But with an appetite for discovery, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts. Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be an uncomfortable roommate dynamic evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC! I was drawn to this book by its very interesting and unique premise. The book read like a futuristic Outlander with a bit more commentary on race and colonization. It was an accessible sci-fi with a touch of romance that I think a lot of readers will enjoy. I really enjoyed how the expats adapted to modern living and found those moments funny and endearing. I also found it interesting and poignant that the bridge, who narrates the book, remains nameless throughout, I thought the book was very well written, but at times the story seemed to stall and drag on a bit. This isn’t a genre that I typically gravitate towards so perhaps that’s why at times I was a little bored or waiting for more exciting plot points to occur. The majority of the exciting plot points took place in the final third of the book, so I found the pacing to be a bit off. The book was witty but the execution fell a bit short of my expectations.