Charlotte supports herself and her lumpen side-kick, Fru Schleswig, as a prostitute in fin-de-siecle Copenhagen. But the course of harlotry never runs smooth, and Charlotte's life is altered irrevocably when one hard winter, she stumbles on an exciting new source of income. A dark mansion, home to the disagreeable Fru Krak, is in dire need of a top-to-bottom scrub - and the wealthy widow is hiring. Enter Charlotte, dragging behind her the reluctant and militantly idle Fru Schleswig. Transformed into cleaning ladies, the squabbling duo attack the dark abode - but soon discover that mysteries abound. The basement appears to be haunted, and there are rumours of desperate souls entering it - never to emerge.
Charlotte decides to turn detective - but finds herself outwitted by the mysterious controller of a demonic machine which wastes no time in catapulting her into twenty-first century London, a baffling world of glass, tin, and labour-saving devices. Luckily a handsome stranger is more than happy to show her the ropes. With the minxy, intrepid Charlotte, Liz Jensen introduces an irresistible, unforgettable heroine. Jensen delivers yet another outlandishly entertaining novel, in which the seemingly insurmountable obstacle of space time proves no match for human ingenuity and earthly passion.
Industry Reviews
'Unashamedly gleeful: a kind of topsy-turvy Jane Eyre with added time travel ... Sit back, suspend your disbelief, and enjoy' Daily Mail 'Less science fiction than fairy tale, it is also a love story, complete with many dramatic reversals of fortune and narrated in appealingly breathless, energetic style ... Jensen is a consistently inventive writer' Sunday Telegraph 'This sweetly entertaining story is enough on the magical side of realism to allow love, for once, to conquer all' Sunday Times 'Captivating ... There are moments of genius ... Packed with charm and energy, this is definitely worth taking the, er, time to read' Time Out