Top Ten Tuesday

TTT – Blast From The Past

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Top Ten Tuesday used to be a weekly post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, but was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. “It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.” This is definitely something I can understand and want to participate in.

Happy Tuesday, and I hope your week is off to a wonderful start. The weather outside has been beautiful in the last day—maybe to make up for all the cold weather and snow? Whatever it is, I’m not complaining. It is so pretty to go outside and see the small changes that occur from day to day now that the end of winter is close. Most recently, I noticed that a bush outside of the garage is starting to grow new shoots, and they are bright red and so eye-catching.

[Ed Norton saying ‘I am Jack’s complete lack of surprise.’]

It might surprise you to learn that this blog post isn’t actually about the signs of botanical life accompanying the warming weather, but instead is about books that include or feature dual timelines, one of my favorite plot devices. I’m sure it isn’t a surprise that I went with something that isn’t listed, even if it is going to challenge me. Here goes:

  1. Weyward by Emilia Hart. I really loved this story, and found myself equally captivated by the historical and present timelines. All three of the storylines were equally interesting.
  2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. There’s no way to possibly make a list featuring dual timeline books without including this one. Even if I liked the historical timeline much better than the present-day version.
  3. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. I remember that this historical fiction saga being so engrossing as it traces two sisters in Africa, and the very different course their lives take, as one is kidnapped and forced onto a slave ship bound for America, and the other remains in Africa, free. It is more of an ancestral legacy story, as the book traces characters over hundreds of years.
  4. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I think this was the first TJR book that I read, but I really liked not only the dual timelines (one in the 1950s and one in the early 1980s), but how Reid likes to have characters pop up between her various books.
  5. The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James. This was such a great story—the present timeline involves a woman who runs a true crime website and manages to score an interview with a rich and reclusive woman who was acquitted of two murders decades ago, and we get to find out more about her story in the historic timeline.
  6. Across So Many Seas by Ruth Behar. Although this contains more than two timelines, we get to see a MG portrait of a Jewish family in diaspora, uprooting their entire lives multiple times in search of freedom and better outcomes for future generations.
  7. The Matchmaker’s Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman. I fell in love with this book, featuring a young woman who immigrates to America and becomes a shadchanit (Jewish matchmaker who is female), and her granddaughter living in Manhattan almost a hundred years later. My favorite part was showing how Jewish traditions and customs dating back to biblical times continue to be practiced, while also adapting to changing times.
  8. The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. Damn, just seeing this title makes me nostalgic for reading this the first time. I loved both narratives, one of a historical villa that hosted a mysterious summer, and the other of two friends who spend a summer at the same villa.
  9. My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell. Don’t get me wrong, this is one of the most disturbing books I have read in a long time. This is also an incredibly moving story about grooming and statutory rape framed as a ‘relationship’ between a teen girl and her teacher made possible by her innocence and naïveté, and then seeing the devastating effects that these events have on her adult life.
  10. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. I don’t want to disappoint anyone who was fully expecting to see me sneak this one into yet another top ten list. There are two timelines: Alex’s first semester at Yale, and her second, when major changes have occurred in her life. There are also some scattered flashbacks about the events that led to Alex, a young, street-smart woman addicted to drugs and the only survivor of a massacre, on a complete 180 and straight to the hallowed halls of the Ivy League, and I remember the revelation being so, so satisfying.

What are some of your favorite books featuring two or more timelines?

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50 replies »

  2. A dual time can be so effective when well done. You’ve got some great books on this list!

    My Dark Vanessa is phenomenal but, as you say, a very disturbing read so makes a tricky recommendation!

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    • There’s nothing better than a dual timeline story that is written beautifully, and I really tried to include books that pulled it off as a plot device.

      I was a little conflicted on including My Dark Vanessa since it is such a heavy and disturbing book, but I think it also offers insight to what happens afterwards, and really shines a light on how deeply people can be affected by grooming and statutory rape.

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    • It can be such a great structure to include, as long as it is done well. I’ve heard great things about Kate Morton’s books, and have several of them on my TBR! Maybe it’s time to actually read one instead of hoping one will miraculously get read on its own? 🤣

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    • The only downside of being an Outlander lover is waiting so long between books, but it’s worth it because of the amount of historical details. And I think you’re going to really love The Matchmaker’s Gift and Weyward. I can’t wait to see what you think!

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    • That book blew my mind! It so clearly lays out the effects of intergenerational trauma, which has been primarily studied amongst both the descendants of Holocaust survivors and descendants of slavery.

      I feel like it’s so rarely explored so well as it was done in this book, and it is definitely criminally underhyped. It still takes up space in my head years after I read it.

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  7. I like books with dual timelines, too, but I’m struggling to come up with any examples you haven’t already mentioned in this post! If I can remember them, I’ll share.

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    • There are a lot of dual timelines that I’ve read which I didn’t like as much, if they aren’t done really well. I did attempt to include multiple genres, but I am always ready to hear about more!

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    • Yes! I remember bonding with you over our shared love of Loigman’s books, and you’re right! I didn’t even think of using Augusta Stern for the topic, but it actually does fit. Hopefully she comes out with a new book soon!

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  12. Great choice! I also enjoy books with dual timelines. I read a lot of historical fiction and that is definitely something they use a lot. Any of Fiona Davis’ books would be ones I would recommend.

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    • Thank you! I love seeing it in historical fiction, especially, but I’ve also noticed it popping up in other genres, and tried to include as many different genres as I could.

      Fiona Davis is another new-to-me author, but I checked out the first book that came up on Goodreads, and it is The Magnolia Palace. I’m so intrigued because it mentions the Frick Collection, and it’s a place that my mom brought me to when I was young that still makes me smile today.

      Also, if you ever go to the Frick Collection with a kid, mention that touching the paintings is not allowed and will get a big scary security guard to yell at you. (Heard it from a friend, of course. I’d never try to touch a museum painting.)

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      • I love when you have a personal connection to a book. All her books are set around famous buildings in New York. I took a group of Brownies to the Art Gallery in our city and I had to keep telling them not to touch. It is so hard for kids. 🤣🤣

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      • More power to you for taking a group of kids and trying to keep track of all of them!

        It’s really cool to see a place taking central stage in a story, especially when you have some kind of emotional connect to it. I’ll have to check her books out soon!

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  13. Tracy Higley writes a very good timeline series; the heroine is Sahara Aldridge- an archeologist- in ” A Time to Seek”,”A Time to Weep”, and, “A Time to Love”. Excellent books and story!!

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    • I’m a big fan of dual timelines, and I really hope that you enjoy Across So Many Seas. I don’t read a lot of MG, so when I do, it’s got to be really good, and that’s one of my favorites.

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  15. I don’t think I’ve really read many (or maybe any) dual timeline novels but do know many love this plot. I see Gabrielle Meyer’s on many people’s favorites list and she writes the different timeline stories. 🙂

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    • I seem to find them most often in historical fiction and mysteries, but it can honestly be done really well in any genre! Hopefully you’ll give one a try to see if you do like the format.

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