Kaliane Bradley’s The Ministry of Time is the latest pick for the Good Morning America book club.
Bradley’s debut novel, published Tuesday by Avid Reader Press, tells the story of a British civil servant who takes a job working as a “bridge” for an agency that is studying time travel. She is put in charge of an “expat” from the past—Commander Graham Gore, a real-life 19th-century Royal Navy officer, with whom she falls in love.
In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus wrote that the book, “offers a meaningful, nuanced perspective on the challenges we face, the choices we make, and the way we live and love today. This rip-roaring romp pivots between past and present and posits the future-altering power of love, hope, and forgiveness.”
ABC’s Juju Chang revealed the book’s selection on the morning show, which featured an interview with Bradley.
“I was actually interested in exploring the idea of time travel as immigration, being brought forcibly from the past into the present day and forced to assimilate,” Bradley said. “They have to become good 21st-century citizens the way immigrants have to be good immigrants.”
Chang noted that in an author’s note, Bradley said that she initially thought only a handful of people would read her book.
“It was originally written as a kind of literary parlor game, a joke just to entertain a small group of friends who I met online,” she said.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
