Persistence of Memory

The first in a “wonderfully complex and charming” series combining “time travel, mystery, and romance” as a young woman unlocks the secrets of her past (Publishers Weekly, starred review of In Loving Memory). Charlie Lowe has two obsessions: researching her mysterious ancestor, Louis Augustus Duran, and saving the Stoneford Village Green from unscrupulous developers. When a freak lightning strike and a rogue computer virus send her back to 1825, Charlie suddenly finds herself playing matchmaker between Louis and a reluctant young woman, Sarah Foster. They simply must marry, or two centuries of descendants—including herself—will cease to exist. Unfortunately, her forebearer turns out to be a despicable French count who spends his days chasing housemaids and attempting to invent the first flushing toilet in Hampshire. A hopeless romantic, our heroine does her best to encourage the happiness of those who surround her—but will she be able to mend a matrimonial wrong and restore the Village Green to its rightful owner while also pursuing her own chance at happily ever after?