4/30/14

In the Keep of Time, by Margaret J. Anderson, for (the Wednesday's) Timeslip Tuesday

At first glance, In the Keep of Time, by Margaret J. Anderson (1977) seems like a standard time travel story--four siblings, unwillingly spending the summer with a great aunt in the Scottish boarderlands, explore the ruined castle nearby.  Their aunt is its chatelaine, and has given them the key to the tower...and when they turn it (after it starts glowing, the way magic keys do), they travel back in time to the 15th century.   But soon a twist appears--the youngest child, Olivia, has no memory of her contemporary self.  Instead, she is Mae, grand-daughter of the castle's lord, with a family who loves her, and absolutely no inclination to trust her three siblings. 

And to make things even more exciting, the castle is besieged by an English army, and its own fighting men are away on a cattle raid.  Andrew, with Mae as his guide, is sent to warn them  (exciting adventure in the past bit happens, including a battle between James II of Scotland and the English).  

But for me, things really picked up when the three older kids drag Mae/Olivia back into the present with them.  They had expected her to become Olivia once more, but to their consternation, she remains Mae.  Child of the middle-ages that she now is, she is terrified and wonder struck in turn by the marvels of the present.   And her siblings, seeing no other recourse, desperately work to make Mae into a child of the 20th century who their parents might not realize is someone who misses her "real" mother back in the past....In the process, the siblings come to appreciate each other more (which was something their parents were hoping to accomplish by sending them off together for the summer).

Then the key glows again...and the kids head back to the keep.  Once more they travel through time, but now they find themselves several centuries in the future, and this might be the earliest example in a children's book of a future that imagines the consequences of sea-level rise from global warming caused by over-reliance on technology.   The only inhabitant of the keep in this time period is an old, mysterious woman....who is able (off-stage) to return Olivia to herself (at least, enough so that she isn't Mae anymore....).

This book is the sort to knock the socks off the nine or ten year old who's never read a time travel book, the sort of book they might well remember for life.    It's one that is best read as young as possible, though...I found it a pleasant read, but certainly it was not as emotionally powerful as it would have been to a younger me, whose relationships with siblings and parents were of primary importance. 

I had read Margaret J. Anderson's Searching for Shona, but had not realized she'd written time travel books, two of which appear to be connected to this one.   I'll be looking out for them!

9 comments:

  1. Oh, I'm so glad you enjoyed this one, Charlotte! I liked the Olivia/Mae bits best myself. Margaret J. Anderson is bringing her OOP books out as e-books, so if you're willing to read them in that format, a handful of other time-travel ones are available. I'll keep my eyes open for them at the used book sale, too.

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  2. I will admit, that's not a time-travel twist I've heard of before.

    This review made me think - have you ever read The Sterkarm Handshake?

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    1. Yes--but I think I had heard too much about how great it was, so I liked it, but not as much as I'd hoped.

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  3. That's an interesting riff on time travel! Do we find out why it's only the youngest daughter who has this happen to her? Or are we led to assume it's just a function of her being younger than the others?

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    1. The only inkling of why it was the youngest is possibly that she goes through the door first...otherwise, it's unexplained There's a certain amount of taking things on faith involved--like no reason to speak of why there should be time traveling at all!

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  4. Interesting! I haven't read this one, but Searching For Shona fascinated me as a child... it's The Prince and the Pauper with a twist... I also recently read her The Druid's Gift, which is also a time travel book; not very plot heavy but largely just a recreation of life on the St. Kilda Islands.

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    1. Shona's another one I think I should have read younger! sigh.

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  5. Being an immature sort, I had my socks knocked off when I read this in my twenties. Your review made me want to hunt for a copy and reread it. Thanks!

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