Alice Payne Arrives

September 15, 2018
Heartfield (Armed in Her Fashion, 2018) takes readers on a short jaunt between the 18th and 22nd centuries--with a few stops in between--for a tale of time travel, love, war, and courage.In 1788, Alice Payne is the daughter of an English nobleman who returned from the Revolutionary War a broken man. Alice quietly pays his creditors with money from her exploits as a mysterious, masked highwayman--assisted in her thieving by an automaton invented by Alice's companion and secret lover, Jane. The two dream of a life free to pursue their passions and each other, but the future has other plans. More accurately, Maj. Prudence Zuniga, from the year 2145, has other plans. Prudence serves in a devastating time war between two groups of time travelers trying to change the past for the better--but their meddling is corrupting history. A wasted decade spent in 1889 trying to avert World War I has left Prudence ready to go rogue and try to end time travel for everyone. But she needs a chronological native to carry out her plan in the past. Enter Alice. A chance encounter between the frustrated, cynical Prudence and the clever and audacious Alice results in a makeshift alliance, but trust is hard to come by across a gulf of centuries and vastly different lives. The story's delightful premise and host of interesting details (Jane's automaton, Jane and Alice's feminist justice crusade, Prudence's sister, who only exists thanks to time travel, refugees seeking to move to better times) are given too short a shrift by a rushed ending that seems to grasp it can't do everything justice in the pages remaining and, therefore, doesn't even try.A fascinating novel laden with fine ideas but with too much left sketched in to be satisfying.

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November 15, 2018

In 1788, Alice Payne is bound by 18th-century rules and strictures, at least in public during the day. In the evenings, she makes a living as a highwayman known as the Holy Ghost. When she inadvertently sends her latest mark into the future, setting off events that put her in the middle of the Time War of the 2070s, she becomes key to ending the conflict and righting the world's wrongs. This includes reversing the damage done to her father in America over the War of Independence and finding money to keep his debtors, and her would-be suitors, at bay. Because of the narrative pacing, there's little time for character development, which unfortunately does a disservice to an otherwise excellent tale. There's a whiff of steampunk with Alice's tinkering, scientifically minded companion Laverne, an automated robot who helps in highway robberies, and the time wheel that makes travel between location and eras possible. VERDICT Fans of steampunk and short stories will likely enjoy.--Michelle Martinez Hoogterp, Sam Houston State Univ. Lib., Huntsville, TX

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2018
In 1788, Alice Payne disguises herself as a highwayman. With the help of her lover Jane's automaton, Alice robs bigoted lords to pay off her father's debt. Meanwhile, Major Prudence Zuniga, a time traveler, attempts to fix the history that well-meaning but radical Misguides have altered. When Alice and Prudence meet, Prudence believes she can work with Alice to end the Time Wars forever. In return, Alice will be richly rewarded. Time travel is never very straightforward, however, and even a small mistake could irrevocably change history. Though Heartfield's scenes brim with excitement, the protagonists ground the story. Mission success hinges upon Alice and Jane's ability to communicate even when they're fighting, and both Alice and, especially, Prudence end up navigating various historical eras as black women. Heartfield's worldbuilding, particularly the complex rules for time travel, will satisfy detail-oriented readers. The strongest aspect of Heartfield's tale, however, is how it asks the hard questions about how progress in the past would affect the present.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)