I’m happy to say that I think my reading dry spell is over. However, this means I’m going back over books I committed to reading in the past that I’m finally getting my hands on. One of those books was The Fountain by John A. Heldt. If you love books with a time travel theme, you don’t want to miss this one.
It all starts when we meet Bill, Paul, and Annie, all siblings over the age of 70. Bill (81) just recently buried his wife, Paul (75) is facing terminal cancer, and Annie (72), a paraplegic, is hoping to make the best of things. As they discuss the end of Paul’s life, they realize there isn’t much time remaining together. All childless and single, they wonder what could have been?
Then Bill gets an interesting call. About a fountain. One that could change everything. He learns about the Fountain of Youth from a man who went through it more than once. And he’s able to share proof. Will Bill take the plunge himself? Will his siblings go with him?
Well, obviously, the answer is yes, otherwise, we wouldn’t have a novel, would we? They landed in 1905, and everything is different. Like many time travel-themed books, this one does such a wonderful job of looping in problems one would accept from going to another era. For example, there’s an upcoming historical earthquake (the 1906 San Francisco earthquake). Do they tell their friends and colleagues? How can they plan? What do they remember that they learned about the event?
This is such a rewarding book. The author did a fantastic job of capturing the time and the era. He didn’t lean too much into the logistics of time travel. It was such a smooth process. At times, I thought the pace was a bit meandering but it felt right for the story. The character development was so strong, I felt so connected to the siblings, and hope to see more from this author in this series.
Make sure you add this book to your reading list on GoodReads. You can also buy it on Amazon. Support the author even more by checking out his blog, too.
Sounds like a good read.