Four women will invent time travel. 

Three will make their mark on history.

Two will do anything to be remembered.

One will not survive.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF TIME TRAVEL

Summer is here and we are cracking open a new book together. We’d love for you to join us in reading The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas. Straight from the book flap, the publisher describes the book like this:

“In 1967, four female scientists worked together to build the world’s first time machine. But just as they are about to debut their creation, one of them suffers a breakdown, putting the whole project – and future of time travel – in jeopardy. To protect their invention, one member is exiled from their team — erasing her contributions from history.

Fifty years later, time travel is a big business. Twenty-something Ruby Robello knows her beloved grand-mother, Granny-Bee, was one of the pioneers, though no one will tell her more. But when Bee receives a mysterious newspaper clipping from the future reporting the murder of an unidentified woman, Ruby becomes obsessed: Could it be Bee? Who would want here dead? And most importantly of all, can her murder be stopped?

Traversing decades and told from alternating perspectives, The Psychology of Time Travel introduces a fabulous new voice in fiction and a new must-read for fans of Naomi Alderman’s The Power and Margot Lee Shetterly’s Hidden Figures.”

Kate Mascarehnas is from the UK and studied English at Oxford and Psychology at Derby. The intersections of which are bound to keep us intrigued. This book is Mascarenhas’s fictional debut, which hopefully means there is more to come.

SUMMER BOOK CLUB DETAILS

The Psychology of Time Travel - Kate MascarenhasWe have several reading groups that explore classic and contemporary literature and philosophy, and our Book Club is where we read a new book every season that most of us know nothing about.

I always choose something I think you will enjoy and that I haven’t read yet. This helps our community keep current with writing and reading trends and often delivers new insights on many of the texts we have read together in the past.

In our past discussions, we have discussed the role of time in Haruki Murakami’s novels and short stories, but this will be our first time reading a work of time travel.

Many of our community members have backgrounds or interests in psychology, and the rest of us are always eager to tap into the zeitgeist and explore time travel. Kate Mascarenhas’s new book, The Psychology of Time Travel, feels like it would be a fun way to explore the way these themes intersect.

MEET MY CO-HOST

I am excited to share that Jennifer Jenkinson will be co-hosting with me this season. Jennifer writes the Blunt Scissors Book Review blog and catalogs her reading history on one of my favorite book-themed Instagrams – you can find her here: @thatgirlrunswithbluntscissors

She is also a member of our Critical Theory & Philosophy and Himalayas of Literature reading groups and it will be a delight to unpack this book with her and all of you!

If you’ve ever read with Book Oblivion, then you know that reading the book is only the beginning. Make sure you are part of our private Facebook group so we can share articles and insights about the science of time travel, psychology, narrative, identity, and more.

We often read the same book as our in-person book club, if you need pointers on starting your own, be sure to check out How to Start a Mind-Blowing Book Club.

Kate Mascarenhas\'s The Psychology of Time Travel