Strangers in Time

By David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing, 2025)

Genre: Historical Fiction

Via: Library

Pages (Print): 431

Kimber here. Telling you to hold on to your kibble. Or whatevs. Cuz Her Momness and I? We just finished one of them thar “barn burner” thingies. It’s historical fiction. Set in an oft-overlooked epoch. By an author who’s not exactly known for historical fiction. But this fella? Even though David Baldacci’s an acclaimed, best-selling author of action/thriller tomes, he doggone outdogg-ies his-self with Strangers in Time.

I’ll let Mom tell ya more:

Setting

Set during WWII and the London Blitz, Strangers in Time revolves around three main characters: war orphan Charlie Matters, age 13. Molly Wakefield, age 15. And Ignatius Oliver, a lonely widower and proprietor of The Book Keep. On different rungs of the social ladder with vastly different backgrounds, the trio is thrown together by war. Meanwhile, German bombs rain from the night skies on poor families in London’s East End like down from a thistle. Think Dante’s Inferno. “Dunkirk in London.” And Operation Pied Piper and massive evacuations – over a million peeps, more than half of them children – to the countryside.

Meanwhile, Charlie lives with his gran in London’s East End. Gran ekes out a living at a bakery shop. Charlie “supplements” her meager income through thieving when Gran thinks he’s in school. Vivid writing brings the story to life in living Technicolor. You can almost taste the “day-old bread, hard-boiled egg, a few chips fried in drippings and a nodule of National Cheddar” that constitutes Charlie’s breakfast. Hear his stomach growl. Feel the winter cold through Charlie’s thin coat. Cringe when the wireless and bed frame are sold to pay bills.

Grim

Between nightly bombs, air raid sirens and mad dashes to the “tube” for supposed safety, things look pretty grim. Until Charlie meets Ignatius Oliver. Tip (thrown’ this in for free): A widower, Ignatius is a math whiz and a cryptographic genius. Newly returned to London after an evacuation, Molly Wakefield has excellent nursing skills and experience from treating wounded soldiers in a hospital in the countryside.

“Imogen always said that there can never be too much reading of books. It’s like saying that too much bracing air to breathe is a problem.”

Well. Charlie snags a job as a telegram delivery boy after his gran dies and Charlie loses their apartment. He pedals by day and returns to his “home” at night – the basement of a partially collapsed, bombed-out building. Here Charlie fills the blank pages of a journal given to him by Ignatius.

“Charlie labored for quite a long time, as though he desperately needed to get things out of his head and onto the paper where he could make sense of them, perhaps.”

Kinship

When Molly’s home is destroyed in a bombing raid, she and Charlie turn to Ignatius. They find an unexpected ally in the quiet, enigmatic bookshop owner. Mourning the recent loss of his wife, Ignatius forms a kinship with both children, and in each other they rediscover the spirit of family.

Uh-Oh

But Charlie’s escapades in the city have not gone unnoticed. And someone’s following Molly since she returned to London. Ignatius harbors his own secrets. Like, why is Ignatius exchanging hushed conversations and papers with a shadowy figure in the dead of night? What’s up with his nosey neighbor, Desdemona Macklin? And where is Molly’s Mum? What really happened to Molly’s father? He left in the middle of night after she was evacuated to the countryside. Without a word. And hasn’t been in contact since. Why?

We’ve read a ton and a half of fiction and non on WWII. Strangers in Time is one of the best. In a clever and captivating plot, the prose conveys the terrors faced by London civilians during the London Blitz in a way that places you right in the thick of things. Thus, it offers readers a You Are There type experience into this part of WWII and how some civilians were affected by same. (Note: The underground tunnels weren’t necessarily safe, either.)

Strangers in Time is different from most Baldacci books.

“The eyes of a bibliophile are competent guides. They essentially sparkle when they alight upon books, as do a gourmand’s when he samples a chef’s fine creations, or those of a wine connoisseur when he is presented with a row of dusty Bordeaux bottles.”

Compelling

Elegiac without wandering into morose, Strangers in Time is a moving and heartfelt story brimming with passion and pathos. On multiple levels. It has a Book Thief vibe goin.’ Note that it starts slowly. But don’t fret, Cupcake. A master storyteller, Baldacci is laying the foundation for the rest of the story, which is thoroughly absorbing and uber compelling.

Braced by exceptional writing, Strangers is a character-driven story with plenty of action, intrigue, and crisp dialogue. It’s three-dimensional characters practically leap off the page and into your lap. With more plot twists than Snake Alley, Strangers in Time will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page.

Top Drawer

As previously noted, we’ve read a zillion Baldacci books. When it comes to action/thriller tomes, he’s top drawer. First-rate. But Strangers in Time is unlike any other Baldacci book we’ve ever read. Piercing, provocative and poignant, it’s hauntingly elegiac and articulate.

In fact, Strangers in Time is the best Baldacci book we’ve ever read.

It’s that good. Especially if you’re an historical fiction aficionado. And we are.

Furthermore, in an age when so many seem to have forgotten the immense sacrifices made and adversities endured by so many during WWII, this book serves as a powerful, poignant reminder of same. The writing snaps, crackles and pops. The story sparks with intrigue and mystery as secrets swirl and questions linger. It grabbed us hook, line and sinker in chapter one. Didn’t let go until the last sentence.

We read it cover-to-cover in one day.

Top 5

Of the 250+ books we’ve read thus far this year, Strangers in Time is among our Top 10. A remarkable read with a captivating story that’s as poignant as it is powerful, Strangers in Time deserves a wide read. (One caveat: The title. Thud.)

Kimber: This book left Her Momness speechless. That doesn’t happen very often, if you know what I mean. I had to talk her into writing a review. Took a few days. (Turns out Mom’ll do almost anything for another bowl of cookies ‘n cream ice cream with extra hot fudge sauce. Don’t tell her I said that okay?)

Our Rating: 4.5