Richmond Book Club May 2025 Meeting

The Richmond Book Club's May meeting will be held Wednesday, May 21, 2025, beginning at 7:00 p.m., at the Capital Ale House, Midlothian, 13831 Village Place Drive. May's book is The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley.

From Kirkus Reviews:

In the author’s note following the moving conclusion of her gripping, gleefully delicious debut novel, Bradley explains how she gathered historical facts about Lt. Graham Gore, a real-life Victorian naval officer and polar explorer, then “extrapolated a great deal” about him to come up with one of her main characters, a curly-haired, chain-smoking, devastatingly charming dreamboat who has been transported through time. Having also found inspiration in the sole extant daguerreotype of Gore, showing him to have been “a very attractive man,” Bradley wrote the earliest draft of the book for a cluster of friends who were similarly passionate about polar explorers. Her finished novel—taut, artfully unspooled, and vividly written—retains the kind of insouciant joy and intimacy you might expect from a book with those origins. It’s also breathtakingly sexy. The time-toggling plot focuses on the plight of a British civil servant who takes a high-paying job on a secret mission, working as a “bridge” to help time-traveling “expats” resettle in 21st-century London—and who falls hard for her charge, the aforementioned Commander Gore. Drama, intrigue, and romance ensue. And while this quasi-futuristic tale of time and tenderness never seems to take itself too seriously, it also 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.

I hope you'll enjoy the book and will be able to join us to talk about it and whatever else is of interest. There will also be time to have something to eat/drink. Looking forward to seeing you there. If you have questions/comments, let me know at pawoodson@msn.com or call/text at 760-650-6953. You can also use the Notifications or Messages functions on the club's group page.

Thanks.

Pat Woodson