Michelle Herbert reviews The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas…
The Psychology of Time Travel begins in 1967 when four women manage to develop a way to travel through time. There are a few rules that seem to be unyielding; you can only travel to places where the machine has been built and is working, so you are unable to travel back past 1967, but there can be more than one version of yourself in any given time period. The book is told through multiple female voices, across a number of time periods, and encompasses many different genres such as time travel, light sci-fi, murder mystery and psychological but the story fits together like a well thought out jigsaw puzzle.
The women who create the time travel machine are all very distinct from each other, but their skills are complimentary. Out of the four (generally known as Pioneers), we mainly follow Barbara, known to everyone as Bee. Bee is a rather tragic character, as it is her research and resolve that allows the experiment to create time travel succeed, unfortunately she suffers from a side effect of time travel soon after the first jump into the near future. Bee is then left out of future achievements of what becomes known as the Conclave, but Bee never gives up hope that she will be able to rejoin her friends one day.
Of the other Pioneers, Margaret is the most driven to make sure that time travel is a success. Margaret is the head of the Conclave and is very strict about what will be tolerated, she is one of the most unlikeable characters in the novel as she can’t tolerate embarrassment and this is how she views Bee. Then there is the enigmatic Grace, who seems to do the most time travelling being seen in many future decades, Grace seems to be the most playful out of the group. Last, there is Lucille, who is quieter than the others feeling that they have treated Bee poorly and looking at ways that she could still be included.
We also follow two other characters more fully in 2017-18. First, we meet Ruby, who is Bee’s granddaughter and a therapist. Ruby gets caught up trying to help Bee become part of the Conclave. Ruby starts tracking one of the Pioneer’s to get more information on what really happened to Bee and was there anything that could be done for her. As Ruby starts to uncover more information about the Conclave she finds herself becoming integral to the events in the story. The other character is Odette, who is the first person at a scene of an impossible murder. Odette has a mind that needs to know why things happen, and however much she tries to move on from that event, she knows she needs to find out how and why this happened.
The book also deals with different views of mental health and how people react to it, creating shame where there is no need, due to a lack of understanding. The book shows that there needs to be a willingness to try and understand how time travel may affect people differently, rather than excluding people because it is easier to do so. In some ways, this also reflects how the Conclave is run and how it deals with people it sees as a problem. Which also makes for an interesting dynamic as time travel desensitises you from reality and the present, as you can meet your older and younger selves in your travels. It really is a case of what would you do if you knew the future? Especially if the knowledge of your actions is closely protected by a secretive organisation.
I found it really interesting to see mini case studies of other female time travellers, which never detracted from the main storyline. I felt it allowed more layers to be added to the story, and there was a good pay off as you saw how these stories fit within the overall storyline and how they affected the main characters over a longer period of time. The chapters are really compelling and vary in length, which means you have to pay close attention as there are lots of little scenes that could easily be missed or overlooked that might turn out to be more significant later on.
I found The Psychology of Time Travel to be really engaging and really enjoyed following the different characters around as they navigate not only time but relationships. I really enjoyed how the book was full of hidden agendas, as well as hidden lives. Especially as the story revolved around what seems like an unsolvable murder. The Psychology of Time Travel is a great story, that is really tightly written with nothing being wasted, it drives you to find out what happens next and wonder if all of your questions will be answered by the end.
Michelle Herbert
