The Ministry of Time: The romantic, sci-fi, comedic, literary, genre-defying bestseller
Kaliane Bradley
May 2024 · Hachette UK
4.5star
42 reviewsreport
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368
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About this ebook
⭐ The sensational Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller, longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction, shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and a finalist for a Hugo Award ⭐
'The hit of the year'
Guardian
A civil servant is offered a lucrative job in a mysterious new government ministry gathering 'expats' from across history to test whether time-travel is feasible.
Her role is to work as a 'bridge': living with, supporting and monitoring expat '1847' - Commander Graham Gore, a former Victorian polar explorer. Gore, an adventurer by trade, soon adjusts to this bizarre new world of washing machines, feminism and Spotify; and during a long, sultry summer the pair move from awkwardness to friendship to something more.
But as the true shape of the project that brought them together begins to emerge, Gore and the bridge are forced to confront their past choices and imagined futures. Can love triumph over the histories that have shaped them? And how do you defy that history when it is living in your house?
'Addictive'
Independent
'Crack this book open and you'll see how time can disappear'
Financial Times
'Readers, I envy you: there's a smart, witty novel in your future'
Washington Post
'Kaliane Bradley's fish-out-of-water rom-com has a winning premise. [...] The book's combination of whimsy and seriousness works brilliantly.'
Sunday Times, Summer Reads
'This time-travelling love story is the perfect mix of witty, sexy and moving.'
Good Housekeeping, 50 best ever beach reads
⭐ A Barack Obama reading pick
⭐ Shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize
⭐ Shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction
⭐ Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award
⭐ Shortlisted for the Climate Fiction Prize
⭐ Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction
⭐ Longlisted for the Jhalak Prize
⭐ Longlisted for a British Book Award
⭐ A book of the year for: the Sunday Times, New York Times, Guardian, Independent, Evening Standard, Spectator, Red, NPR, Vanity Fair, People, Slate, Advocate, Sydney Morning Herald, Globe and Mail, Den of Geek, Good Housekeeping, Goodreads, NetGalley and Smithsonian Magazine
*** This book has been printed with four different colour cover designs, available for limited time only. Colours will be assigned at random when your order is despatched. ***
'The hit of the year'
Guardian
A civil servant is offered a lucrative job in a mysterious new government ministry gathering 'expats' from across history to test whether time-travel is feasible.
Her role is to work as a 'bridge': living with, supporting and monitoring expat '1847' - Commander Graham Gore, a former Victorian polar explorer. Gore, an adventurer by trade, soon adjusts to this bizarre new world of washing machines, feminism and Spotify; and during a long, sultry summer the pair move from awkwardness to friendship to something more.
But as the true shape of the project that brought them together begins to emerge, Gore and the bridge are forced to confront their past choices and imagined futures. Can love triumph over the histories that have shaped them? And how do you defy that history when it is living in your house?
'Addictive'
Independent
'Crack this book open and you'll see how time can disappear'
Financial Times
'Readers, I envy you: there's a smart, witty novel in your future'
Washington Post
'Kaliane Bradley's fish-out-of-water rom-com has a winning premise. [...] The book's combination of whimsy and seriousness works brilliantly.'
Sunday Times, Summer Reads
'This time-travelling love story is the perfect mix of witty, sexy and moving.'
Good Housekeeping, 50 best ever beach reads
⭐ A Barack Obama reading pick
⭐ Shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize
⭐ Shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction
⭐ Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award
⭐ Shortlisted for the Climate Fiction Prize
⭐ Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction
⭐ Longlisted for the Jhalak Prize
⭐ Longlisted for a British Book Award
⭐ A book of the year for: the Sunday Times, New York Times, Guardian, Independent, Evening Standard, Spectator, Red, NPR, Vanity Fair, People, Slate, Advocate, Sydney Morning Herald, Globe and Mail, Den of Geek, Good Housekeeping, Goodreads, NetGalley and Smithsonian Magazine
*** This book has been printed with four different colour cover designs, available for limited time only. Colours will be assigned at random when your order is despatched. ***
Ratings and reviews
4.5
42 reviews
Natalie Hitoun
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March 25, 2025
What an engaging and entertaining novel! It caprured my attention from the first page.A delightful mix of sci-fi , history, spy- genre, and slow burn love story. The characters were revealed slowly and deliciously, especially Commander Gore. The time travel/world building was convincing and the humourous and witty dialogue between the protagonists from different time-periods was charming.
Nicki Hutley
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June 14, 2024
Loved this book for the writing, the characters, and the plot lines. Observations on racism, Climate change, bureaucracy and so on are all beautifully and delicately done. I know I'll read this again in due course.
Fred Smith
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June 6, 2024
A total gem of a book.I love it so much,so well written.The first time I have ever immediately re-read a book straight away.Simply astounding !
About the author
Kaliane Bradley is a British-Cambodian writer and editor based in London. Her short stories have appeared in Electric Literature, Catapult, Somesuch Stories and The Willowherb Review, among others. She was the winner of the 2022 Harper's Bazaar Short Story Prize and the 2022 V. S. Pritchett Short Story Prize.
Her debut novel, The Ministry of Time, was an instant Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller and a global sensation. It was chosen as one of the Observer's 'Best Debut Novels of 2024' and was a Barack Obama summer pick; it was shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, a Books Are My Bag award, the Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction and the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award.
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