Reviews for The book of lost hours
Library Journal
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DEBUT Eleven-year-old Lisavet has no way of returning home after her watchmaker father shoves her through a strange portal as the Nazis draw near on the eve of Kristallnacht. Trapped for ages to wander the shelves of the time space—an eerie place where people's memories are recorded in books, and talented timekeepers can travel into those memories—Lisavet finds purpose in saving memories that others want to burn. When she falls in love with a handsome young man working for the U.S. government, Lisavet is faced with a devastating choice. Year later, in 1962, a young woman named Amelia is thrust into the time space after her uncle's death. While attempting to unravel his secrets, Amelia discovers that people will kill to control the place and the memories it contains. Gelfuso's sci-fi/historical fiction mash-up delivers excitement, but it could have more clearly shown how what happens in the time space impacts the real world, to help establish the story's stakes and the characters' motivations. VERDICT Debut novelist Gelfuso's tale of star-crossed lovers in perilous situations should appeal to fans of poignant, time-bending stories, like V.E. Schwab's The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and Matt Haig's The Midnight Library.—Mara Bandy Fass
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
Ezekiel Levy is no ordinary clockmaker—he can make watches that open doors in space, time, and memory. Desperate to protect his daughter, Lisavet, from the terror that will become known as Kristallnacht, he hides her in the time space, a library where books contain the memories of those who have died. When he does not return for her, Lisavet becomes trapped. She encounters timekeepers who are tasked with destroying the memory books of people and ideas that those in power want to erase. Lisavet, as she grows, tries to save these books. One timekeeper, Ernest, is different from the others, and eventually, Lisavet and Ernest fall in love. Many years later, Amelia is mourning the loss of her uncle Ernest. Approached by someone who worked with him, Amelia is drawn into the mysteries of the time space. In her debut, Gelfuso explores the nature of time, love, and memory. Book clubs, fans of Kaliane Bradley’s The Ministry of Time (2024), and readers who enjoy books about magical libraries will find much to enjoy and discuss in this intriguing novel.
Publishers Weekly
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Gelfuso’s engrossing debut follows the adventures of a Jewish girl who hides in a fantastical realm during WWII and devotes herself to protecting collective memories. It begins in 1938 Germany during Kristallnacht, when 11-year-old Lisavet Levy’s watchmaker father sends her into the time space, where people’s memories are bound in books, to save her from the Nazis. Though he promises to retrieve her, she winds up trapped in the time space with a specter, who teaches her how to access the memories stored in the books. As the war progresses, she discovers that German, American, and Russian timekeepers have gained access to the time space and are each trying to destroy memories of atrocities to shape a version of history that favors their own country. In 1949, Lisavet strikes up a romance with an American timekeeper named Ernest Duquesne and becomes pregnant with his child. A parallel narrative set in 1965 Boston follows Ernest’s 15-year-old niece, Amelia, who’s drawn by a strange woman into the time space to find a book in which Lisavet hid all the memories she saved from burning. Gelfuso seamlessly blends elements of romance and fantasy into the twisty quest narrative, and packs excitement into every page. It’s a delight. Agent: Jennifer Weltz, Jean V. Naggar Literary. (Aug.)Correction: An earlier version of this review misstated the year in which the character Lisavet Levy strikes up a romance.
