I have a confession to make: time-travel narratives give me a headache. This is undoubtedly a “me” problem rather than a “them” problem. But virtually every time I read a novel or watch a show with a time-travel element, my mind starts going in circles until I find myself hopelessly thinking about the what, the why, the how, and especially the when of it all. 

The good news is that Jaclyn Moriarty's TIME TRAVEL FOR BEGINNERS is the rare exception to the rule. It's a time-travel novel that kept me so busy caring about the characters and their circumstances that I didn't have time to get perplexed about quantum physics.

"The twists that come fast and furious near the end of the book just might prompt more than a single reading of this charming and delightful novel."

Moriarty is very clear from the beginning about one factor that helps avoid the time-travel paradox. In her book, the Time Travel Agency (located behind an unassuming storefront in Sydney) makes it known to its customers that although you can visit any time in history, including your own, you can't change the past. Any action the time traveler takes creates a new parallel universe with its own trajectory, while the time traveler's personal timeline remains unchanged. This is good news for those who want to go back and, say, disrupt political elections just for fun. But it's bad news for those who want to go back in their own lives to correct a mistake, prevent a tragedy, or redo a regret. It just won't stick.

Perhaps that's one of the reasons why the Time Travel Agency gets such poor online reviews. It also doesn't help that your average person just doesn't think it's possible. Anna Salone is one of those people. Even after she's offered a job at the agency, this single mom of a young teenager named Nicola is convinced that the hyper-realistic “travels” her colleagues send her on are just sophisticated VR experiences. But she's not asking too many questions. 

After a traumatic day that involves getting hit by a car (driven by a very handsome stranger) and a concussion-fueled decision to quit her job at the Nut Bar, Anna is just happy to have something new to look forward to. Soon, she's immersing herself in historical research for a series of time-travel packages that will take readers to scenes in the lives of famous authors. After a couple of promising flirtations, she's even finding herself interested in dating for the first time in years.

Anna's story is interspersed with those of two other characters. Teddy is a customer at the Time Travel Agency in search of answers as to why his wife has left him. Jade is also a single mom but is deeply skeptical of the agency. Readers learn about Jade through the pages of her journal, which she’s assigned to write as part of a tutorial she's been gifted by a friend in an attempt to regain her creativity.

At first, readers will feel off-kilter navigating these three different storylines, but soon will find themselves growing increasingly invested as they begin to overlap and converge. Moriarty, who got her start writing children's books, expertly weaves together playful, fantastical and often humorous elements with more serious, realistic explorations of parenthood, romantic partnerships, sibling relationships, and friendships. 

Beyond the plot overlaps, what brings all three characters together is regret, a longing for a second chance --- or at least a greater understanding of how their past actions might affect their present. However, as mentioned above, they --- like all time travelers in this world --- must reckon with the knowledge that you can't change the past. 

Readers will come away with a new appreciation for the stories of their own life, as well as a renewed sense of wonder and curiosity about others'. TIME TRAVEL FOR BEGINNERS will appeal to fans of Matt Haig's THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY. The twists that come fast and furious near the end of the book just might prompt more than a single reading of this charming and delightful novel.