The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley
The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley
3 Rating(s)
List: $25.99 | Sale: $18.20
Club: $12.99

The Ministry of Time

Bestseller

Author: Kaliane Bradley

Narrator: George Weightman, Katie Leung

Unabridged: 10 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/07/2024


Synopsis

ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF SUMMER 2024 • A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • HUGO AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST NOVEL • WINNER OF THE GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD FOR SCIENCE FICTION • A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, VANITY FAIR, ESQUIRE, VOX, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, THE INDEPENDENT, PARADE, KIRKUS REVIEWS, AND MORE…

“This summer’s hottest debut.” —Cosmopolitan • “Witty, sexy escapist fiction [that] packs a substantial punch...Fresh and thrilling.” —Los Angeles Times • “Electric...I loved every second.” —Emily Henry

“Utterly winning...Imagine if The Time Traveler’s Wife had an affair with A Gentleman in Moscow...Readers, I envy you: There’s a smart, witty novel in your future.” —Ron Charles, The Washington Post

A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all: Welcome to The Ministry of Time, the exhilarating debut novel by Kaliane Bradley.

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as “1847” or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,” “Spotify,” and “the collapse of the British Empire.” But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.

Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.

An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, The Ministry of Time asks: What does it mean to defy history, when history is living in your house? Kaliane Bradley’s answer is a blazing, unforgettable testament to what we owe each other in a changing world.

About Kaliane Bradley

Kaliane Bradley is a British-Cambodian writer and editor based in London. Her short fiction has appeared in Somesuch StoriesThe Willowherb ReviewElectric LiteratureCatapult, 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.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Emily May on March 06, 2024

Originally posted here: [URL not allowed] I loved this book. It was funny, charming, sad and clever... but the overwhelming feeling I’m experiencing as I sit down to write this review is anger. Anger at all the people who rated this book 1 star and screamed "plagiarism" after r......more

Goodreads review by SK on July 09, 2024

"Forgiveness, which takes you back to the person you were and lets you reset them. Hope, which exists in a future in which you are new. Forgiveness and hope are miracles. They let you change your life. They are time-travel." Well, that was interesting... and boring. Am not sure what the author was......more

Goodreads review by Shelley's Book Nook on April 06, 2024

My Reviews Can Also Be Found On: The Book Review Crew Blog I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It was utterly unique mixing a wide range of genres. Normally I don't enjoy books where the author can't make up their mind what category their book falls into but Kaliane Bradley ma......more

Goodreads review by Kat on March 06, 2025

it’s only March, but I can confidently say literally no matter what else I’ll be reading this year, this book will firmly sit at the #1 spot of “what the f did I just read” by the end of 2024. 🫡 Simply put, The Ministry of Time (which has NOTHING to do with the Spanish series of the same name and sur......more

Goodreads review by Wil on March 10, 2025

I loved this. I especially enjoyed her beautiful turns of phrase, and the way she writes dialog.......more


Quotes

"Audiobook reader Katie Leung’s excellent narration covers events in the present, demonstrating a deft ability to recreate the cadences of different time periods for different expats. George Weightman narrates moments from the characters’ pasts, giving these reflections a solemn, nostalgic tone. Together, their complementary narrative styles reflect the time-twisting, culture-crossing nature of this book. Weightman and Leung bring the many histories and personalities of this time-travel adventure to life, making The Ministry of Time a uniquely immersive listening experience."

"Katie Leung narrates this time-travel novel from the point of view of the unnamed protagonist, who works as a “bridge” at the British government’s Ministry of Time. They have technology that allows them to pluck people out of time and are studying whether these “expats” can survive with no ill effects. The bridge is helping her expat, 1800s polar explorer Graham Gore, adapt to the future; they live together and inevitably grow closer. Leung’s Graham is especially appealing, as is her performance of Margaret, an expat from the seventeenth century whose accent is described as unplaceable and who takes to modern times surprisingly well. George Weightman sounds like he was plucked right out of the era himself as he narrates interspersed sections that detail Graham’s doomed polar expedition."