The Ministry of Time

Kaliane Bradley
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The Ministry of Time

Kaliane Bradley
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Overview

368 PAGESENGLISH

Promotional Details
"[Bradley's] utterly winning book is a result of violating not so much the laws of physics as the boundaries of genre. Imagine if The Time Traveler's Wife had an affair with A Gentleman in Moscow. . . You'd need a nuclear-powered flux capacitor to generate more charisma than Gore. . . His banter with the narrator crackles off the page . . . Readers, I envy you: There's a smart, witty novel in your future."--Ron Charles, The Washington Post

"The Ministry of Time reads like a novel that was written for pleasure . . . this is the kind of summer romp that also sparks real thought. . . . [G]ive in to the tide of this book, and let it pull you along. It's very smart; it's very silly; and the obvious fun never obscures completely the sheer, gorgeous, wild stretch of her ideas."--Ella Risbridger, The Guardian

"Bradley pulls off a rare feat. The Ministry of Time doesn't stoop to easy answers and doesn't devolve into polemic. It's a smart, gripping work that's also a feast for the senses. An assassination, moles, questions of identity and violence wreak havoc on our happy lovers and the bubble they create in London. Yet our affection for them is as fresh and thrilling as theirs is for one another . . . An edgy, playful and provocative book that's likely to be the most thought-provoking romance novel of the summer. "--Lauren LeBlanc, Los Angeles Times

"A hilarious yet poignant take on dislocation, loss, and oddball community . . . A twisty plotline that incorporates plenty of John le Carré and Mick Herron spy-craft references . . . with the silly, incisive, and spot-on comedy of Douglas Adams."--Daneet Steffens, The Boston Globe

"Bradley 's writing is clear and stylish, her dialogue dry and sprightly; the serious matters of love and mortality are cloaked in humour, but never too heavily . . . If you loved Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife, or the big hit of 2022, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, [The Ministry of Time] will be right up your street . . . A rattling good adventure story too, the twists at the end [are] perfectly earned . . . Don't wait for this tale to come to the small screen. Crack this book open and you'll see how time can disappear."--Erica Wagner, Financial Times

"[The Ministry of Time] basically has everything you would want in a book in one incredible and exhilarating read that you'll definitely tell all your friends about." --Cosmopolitan

"A revelatory page-turner."--People

"If you're a fan of Outlander, spy novels, time travel books, or just really innovative and fun storytelling, The Ministry of Time is definitely for you." --Town & Country, "45 Must-Read Books of Spring 2024"

"This will be the book everyone is talking about this summer. Booksellers, social media, your parents, your teens. Everyone will simply love this time-traveling spy romance. It literally checks off all of the boxes for what a damn good book should be. Just go get it right now. Seriously."--Debutiful

"This is a lightning strike of a story that will appeal to fans of time travel, spy novels, romance, and bittersweet, satirical office drama alike. The result is part 'Kate and Leopold' and part Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow." --Polygon

"An outrageously brilliant debut with a premise that just gets more and more original. The Ministry of Time pulls off the neatest trick of speculative fiction, first estranging us from our own era, and then facilitating our immigration back into the present; but it is also a love story, exploratory, sensitive, charged with possibility, and powered by desire, reminding us that history is synonymous with human beings, and that we all have the ability to change it. This is already the best new book I will have read next year." --Eleanor Catton, author of Birnam Wood

"The Ministry of Time is as electric, charming, whimsical, and strange as its ripped-from-history cast. (Extremely.) I loved every second I spent wrapped up in Kaliane Bradley's stunning prose, the moments that made me laugh and those that made my heart ache. This is a book that surprises as much as it delights, and I'm already impatiently waiting for whatever Bradley concocts next." --Emily Henry, author of Funny Story

"Smart and affecting, full of ideas plus aslow-burning love story. It's a wonderful debut." --David Nicholls, New York Times bestselling author of One Day

"Fantastically fun and unmistakably urgent, The Ministry of Time is an ecstatic celebration of fiction in all its vehement, ungovernable, mutinous glory." --Megha Majumdar, author of A Burning

"Hugely enjoyable: ingeniously constructed, beautifully written, and unexpectedly sexy. It is the rarest of creations: a boldly entertaining page-tuner that is also deeply, thoughtfully engaged with our past, present and future." --Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre

Overall rating: 4.4324327 / 5 from 37 reviews.

AI Generated Review Summary

The Ministry of Time is a highly acclaimed debut novel praised for its unique fusion of time travel, spy thriller, workplace comedy, and romance. Readers appreciate its engaging narrative and the intriguing exploration of power and love across time.

Summary topics

  • Unique Take on Time Travel: 10%
  • Easy Read: 16%

Review topics: [book, read, novel, story, idea, take, service, premise, characters, writing, world, plot, chapters, themes, person].

Review highlights

  • "This was a fun and interesting read, as it has a different take on time travel."David G.
  • "This book is a unique take on time travel combined with aspects of a spy thriller."Michelleg55
  • "I truly enjoyed this book."Clementine

Reviews

Light-hearted, rom-com SF

"I must confess: this book is not my usually preferred genre. I like my SF to explore the philosophical (or sociological) implications of their weird set-ups. “Ministry of Time” is a kind of light-hearted, rom-com SF, that made me think, oddly enough, of Tama Janowitz’s “A Cannibal in New York”. (Fish-out-of-water, that kind of thing. ) Bradley is a humorous writer, granted, and this book was on various “Best of” lists for 2025, but I didn’t warm up to it. It felt…weightless. That said, Bradley does touch on how everyone is a kind of time-traveler, when we forgive our past selves, and make plans for the future."

Drew2026 (3/5)

Perfect gift

"Bought this as a gift and it went over very well. It was on their list and I didn't even know they had been looking at getting it themselves. I'm going to borrow it when they are done because I'm excited to read it as well. An exciting concept for a novel and great cover art."

MLYT (5/5)

So enjoyable!

"I really enjoyed this book, though it did have a few moments where it dragged, but I loved the characters so much."

Julia M. (4/5)

A Brilliant, Genre‑Defying Debut That Warps Time—and Your Heart

"The Ministry of Time is a sparkling, genre‑bending debut by Kaliane Bradley that offers equal parts time‑travel whimsy, romance, social commentary, and quiet existential pondering. At once playful, thought‑provoking, and deeply human, it’s the kind of novel that lingers long after the final pages. Culturefly Financial Times the AU review In a near‑future Britain, time travel has finally arrived—but only in one small, controlled way. The government’s ""Ministry of Time"" has begun retrieving individuals from doomed moments in history—figures whose deaths are already recorded to avoid disrupting the timeline—and bringing them into the present as ""time‑expats. "" Our narrator, a British‑Cambodian civil servant, becomes the ""bridge"" for one such individual: Commander Graham Gore, an explorer from Sir John Franklin’s lost 1845 Arctic expedition. Financial Times Wikipedia Thrown together under absurd yet compelling circumstances—imagine romantic tension blossoming over introductions to washing machines, Spotify, and the collapse of empire—our pair forms the heart of the story. Their relationship unfolds with warmth, wit, and slow‑burn intimacy, as Gore navigates the modern world with both Victorian propriety and curiosity, while the narrator wrestles with her own layered identity and implicit complicity in historical trajectories. Financial Times Culturefly The Book Club The Times Bradley’s prose shines with dry humor, agile dialogue, and emotional depth. The narrative—interspersed with glimpses of Gore’s ill‑fated expedition—keeps the pacing fresh and the tone varied: part rom‑com, part spy‑thriller, part commentary on colonial legacy and belonging. She tackles big themes—climate change, migration, imperialism—without ever losing sight of her characters’ emotional core."

Samantha (4/5)

Why shop for book anywhere else.

"The staff at Indigo and always friends and go out of their way to be help"

Grandma (5/5)

Loved this book!

"One of the best books I've read in a long time! And so unique."

Sarah (5/5)

Not a complete cliche

"An interesting take on the time travel trope without being completely cliche"

Lissa S. (4/5)

Great read.

"Left me thinking more and more about it as time went on."

Rachel (5/5)

A refreshing time travel plot!

"A beautiful blend of time traveling, unlikely romances and witty humor, sprinkled with some history tidbits, playful conspiracies and social impacts to our world now and possibles of the future. There's a little something for everyone to enjoy. #IndigoEmployee"

ShadowQueen88 (5/5)

Great Customer Service

"The service at Northgate Indigo is always friendly and helpful"

Ali P. (5/5)

Q&A

  • Published date: Apr 01, 2025
  • Language: English
  • No. of Pages: 368
  • Publisher: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
  • ISBN: 9781668045152
  • Dimensions: 5.59" W x 0.93" L x 8.34" H
Kaliane Bradley is a British-Cambodian writer and editor based in London. Her short fiction has appeared in Somesuch Stories, The Willowherb Review, Electric Literature, Catapult, and Extra Teeth, among others. She was the winner of the 2022 Harper's Bazaar Short Story Prize and the 2022 V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize.

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