Women Adventuring in Time
Time travel novel heroines? It’s a pretty short list. Most of these characters fall into another century and fall in love. There’s nothing wrong with that reason for parting time’s folds, but a fascinating subset of time-bending heroines have other agendas. Some aim to improve the present world by changing its past, in large and small ways. Some just want to change their own present, and some even venture into the future in order to alter their lives now. I like the ones who have a political, literary, or even crime-solving purpose.
The Scribe of Siena, The Doomsday Book, The Jane Austen Project are novels that feature women who have big goals. They need to fix history, for good reasons—such as, “don’t we wish Jane Austen had written more books?” Or “If only we could have prevented the Plague from decimating Siena and rescued some of its artists.”
These speculative ideas intrigue me. I love the “if only, then possibly” fictive trope. Could history branch and provide alternative universes? It’s a respectably scientific speculation, popular ever since Einstein. They’re fun speculations, as is the consideration as to whether or not you could change the past and so alter the present day. The new time travel novels that have women leading these explorations makes it all the more fascinating to me.
The basis of how you would time travel is a science fiction concern, but that kind of time travel used to be the only genre. Not anymore. Time travel romances are now huge, and even more intriguing is the way traveling through time has invaded other genres, for example crime fiction, in the recent The Psychology of Time Travel by debut author Mascarenhas. Preventing a murder by traveling into the past has all sorts of interesting possible complications, both related to detection and psychology.
In my novel, The Renaissance Club, changing history has intriguing possibilities for love, art, and my heroine’s career. The idea that she might change her 17th century idol’s life in the past has reverberations for her future and the possibility of theirs together. After writing it, I wondered why I had chosen this fictional trope. I guess the eternal question of what-if fascinates me. We all think about it, maybe in conjunction with regrets. What if I had, what if I hadn’t? Where would I be now if I had gone to college at the Sorbonne, as my parents suggested? What if I had gone into fashion design after all? If I’d married him, instead of the one I did marry?
Speculating on different life paths is a form of time travel. It can come after a loss or a big life change. Two years ago, my brother died from cancer, following a difficult illness. Four months later, my 95-year-old stepmother followed.
Two big losses in a short time hit me like a giant redwood tree falling on my head. It put me into a state of introspection, some of which ventured into the what-ifs. Memories flung themselves into my awareness. I’d find myself looking out the back window at the hillside garden where my brother and stepmom were harvesting peppers for our lunch.
I’d walk through a dim room and seem to hear my brother’s voice telling me he was working on a painting. I could almost see him standing at his easel. These memories were so vivid it was as if I had traveled in time. Perhaps memories are really a form of time travel. At such moments, time becomes a fluid fabric and you can fold it and part it to step backward.
Time travel fiction is historical fiction on steroids. Writing time travel stories, you can venture into any era of history. I love researching history, and using that research to fold the present time together with a specific point in time, for comparison of cultures.
I’d love to see more time travel novels featuring women. Women view and relate to history so differently than men. It’s less about conquest and domination and more about nuance and relationships. Heroines might time travel to change the way women are treated, ensure that women’s contributions to society are valued, and discover unrecognized heroines in history.
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Rachel Dacus’s debut novel is The Renaissance Club, a time travel love story involving a young art historian and the great 17th century Italian sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini. The book has been called “Enchanting, rich and romantic…a poetic journey through the folds of time.” She’s also the author of four poetry collections: Gods of Water and Air is a collection of poetry, prose, and drama; Earth Lessons, Femme au Chapeau and Arabesque. Rachel resides in Northern California with her husband and Silky Terrier, where she raises funds for healthcare, homelessness, programs serving elders, and other good causes.
About THE RENAISSANCE CLUB
THE RENAISSANCE CLUB, Rachel Dacus
A great artist of the 17th century meets his superfan from another time in a tale of passion becoming true love …
“Enchanting, rich and romantic…a poetic journey through the folds of time.” – Bestselling author of the EVERYTHING series Kerry Lonsdale
May Gold, an adjunct college teacher earning little more than a Starbucks barista, often dreams in her tiny, moldy office about the subject of her master’s thesis, 17th century sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini. In her fantasies she’s in his arms, the wildly adored partner of the man who invented the Baroque. In reality, May has just landed in Rome with her teaching colleagues and her suffocating boyfriend, Darren, who is paying her way.
She feels like a precocious failure and longs for a passionate, creative life of beauty and poetry. When tour leader George St. James lends May his beautiful gold pen to take her notes, she finds herself in the year 1624, under the gilded dome of St. Peter’s, staring into Bernini’s eyes.
But can she break free of her present-day life, the dead-end job, the stuffy boyfriend, and the boss who wants to thwart her rise in the Art Department? Only if she can give up everything and figure out the secret to falling through the folds of time, might she seize her unexpected chance for happiness and live in a magical future with her soul mate from another time.
A CAPTIVATING STORY illuminating love’s power over time. Perfect for fans of and Susanna Kearsley and Diana Gabaldon, for those who love Italy, art, and history.
“Highly recommended for lovers of time travel fiction or anyone looking for a compelling story about a woman trying to find happiness.” – Annabelle Costa, Author of The Time Traveler’s Boyfriend.
“Rachel Dacus sweeps her readers away to Italy with her, lifting the senses with the sights, sounds, and tastes of that stunning country; imparting her deep knowledge of Renaissance and Baroque art while immersing the reader in a gorgeously romantic story. This book is time travel at its best!” — Georgina Young-Ellis, author of The Time Mistress Series
BUY THE BOOK HERE
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips
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