Thomas Legendre's new novel Keeping Time (University of Cincinnati Press, 2020) has been released with Foreword Reviews describing it as a "rich novel that explores the nature of a marriage and asks whether love is a monolith, a miracle of biology, or an artificial construct."
Keeping Time follows archaeologist Aaron Keeler who finds himself transported eighteen years backward in time. He becomes swept up in a strangely illicit liaison with his younger wife. A brilliant musician, Violet is captivated by the attentive, "weathered" version of her husband. The Aaron she recently married—an American expat—has become distant, absorbed by his excavation of a prehistoric site at Kilmartin Glen on Scotland's west coast, where he will soon make the discovery that launches his career. As Aaron travels back and forth across the span of nearly two decades, with time passing in both worlds, he faces a threat to his revelatory dig, a crisis with the older Violet—mother of his two young children—and a sudden deterioration of his health. Meanwhile, Violet's musical performances take on a resonance related to the secrets the two are uncovering in both time frames. With their children and Aaron's lives at risk, he and Violet try to repair the damage before it's too late.
Thomas has written about his writing and research process for Keeping Time on his website and at Superstition Review.
Keeping Time is now available for purchase from Blackwells and other book retailers. Hear excerpts from the novel here.
Posted on Monday 30th March 2020