Book Review: The Outcasts of Time

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. After sticking with it when it was waxing tedious and dull, I didn't even end up making the book club discussion because of a high school parent meeting. I wonder if anyone else in the group enjoyed it more.

The premise is intriguing: two men, fighting the plague, receive a supernatural choice to spend their last six days on earth at home with their family or to spend their final six days crossing time (one day followed by a day ninety-nine years hence, then another ninety-nine years again, etc.). They shield their family from the plague and seek salvation doing good in 1447, 1546, 1645, 1744, 1843, and 1942.

Sadly, The Outcasts of Time was boring. It took 60-some pages before introducing the option and the first two days of time travel took about a hundred pages each. I kept wishing the book would jump to more recent history (although none of the time fit any history I've seen). The reader encounters much moralizing on man's inhumanity to man and the destructive possibilities in even the best advancements. Perhaps someone with a hankering to explore British history would enjoy this book. Still, my master's degree focus was on the history of Victorian Britain and the limited pages treating that time were no more compelling to me. Not my favorite book club read.