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This Time Tomorrow
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Fiction (2022)What if you could take a vacation to your past?
With her celebrated humor, insight, and heart, Emma Straub offers her own twist on traditional time travel tropes, and a different kind of love story.
On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice's life isn't terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn't exactly the one she expected. She's happy with her apartment, her romantic status, her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her 16th birthday. But it isn't just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush, it's her dad: the vital, charming, 40-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?
With her celebrated humor, insight, and heart, Emma Straub offers her own twist on traditional time travel tropes, and a different kind of love story.
On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice's life isn't terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn't exactly the one she expected. She's happy with her apartment, her romantic status, her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her 16th birthday. But it isn't just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush, it's her dad: the vital, charming, 40-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?
336 pages, Paperback
First published May 17, 2022
About the author
Emma Straub
27 books5,293 followersEmma Straub is the New York Times‒bestselling author of the novels All Adults Here, Modern Lovers, The Vacationers, Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures, and the short story collection Other People We Married. Straub's work has been published in twenty countries, and she and her husband own Books Are Magic, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, New York.
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May 17, 2022When 40-year-old Alice is thrust back to 1996, she’s as shocked as one might expect. But what surprises her most is seeing her now ailing father, back to the vital and charming man he once was. Desperate to help him, Alice looks for a way in the past to save him in the present. I couldn’t put it down.
February 16, 2022
the rare novel that leaves you torn between feverishly turning pages and setting it down so you can call the people you love.
March 20, 2022
I could not stop thinking about how old the cat was.
June 3, 2022
I found this book to be quite boring. The story dragged without any compelling or exciting moments. Halfway through I just started to skim through the pages.
September 19, 2022
This is a love story, but it’s the love between a daughter and her father. It involves time travel, but don’t let that scare you off. It’s the sliding door type of time travel, not sci-fi time travel with complicated, mind-bending scientific explanations. instead, the focus is on relationships.
Alice is not exactly unhappy with her life, but it’s the eve of her 40th birthday and she is taking stock of her life. Her career dreams have fizzled, just like her love life, and her father is lying in a hospital bed, nearing the end of his life. Understandably, Alice has already begun grieving.
“grief was something that moved in and stayed. Maybe it moved from one side of the room to the other, farther away from the window, but it was always there.”
She ends up drinking a bit too much, and wakes up in 1996 on her 16th birthday. Her father, Leonard, is in the prime of his life, young and vibrant in ways she did not remember or appreciate when she was 16. As she is herself. How fun would it be to see and appreciate the people and things in your world at 16, through 40-year-old eyes?
“Things were always changing, even when they didn't feel like it. Alice wondered if no one ever felt as old as they were because it happened so slowly, and you were only ever one day slower and creakier, and the world changed so gradually that by the time cars had evolved from boxy to smooth, or green taxis had joined the yellow ones, or Metrocards had replaced tokens, you were used to it. Everyone was a lobster in the pot.”
Alice has a chance to spend time with her dad, appreciate him in ways she didn’t the first time around, and perhaps help him (and herself) make different choices. For those of us who have lost our parents, it’s a dream come true to have more time, or know them when they were young. So poignant and beautifully done by the author.
Alice discovers that she can return to this day again and again, always going back to her 16th birthday and then forward to age 40. Each time Alice goes forward to age 40, she must live with the different choices she makes. Is her different life one that fits her? Can she change everything or are some things in life inevitable regardless of the choices we make? Does she eventually end up in the life that is perfect for her? Is perfect even attainable? Can regret be avoided? What exactly makes up a happy life (spoiler: probably not the Disney version)? All thought-provoking questions that leads to self-reflection for Alice, and for me, the reader.
Straub approaches this familiar trope differently than most authors by not focusing on the “what-ifs”. It’s so much more, and I loved being on this journey with Alice and Leonard.
This sounds like it could go one of two ways: sweetly saccharine or depressingly heavy. But it is neither. Straub uses warmth, humor and fun 90’s nostalgia, as well as a nod to her love of NYC to lighten the story. I loved the pop culture, and the pleasures of the simple and mundane. I loved the relationship between father and daughter, as well as Alice’s relationship with her best friend, Sam.
(Thank goodness Straub didn’t make the teenagers annoying or angsty. And thank goodness Ursula, her cat when she was 16, is still alive when she is 40! Perhaps Ursula has unlocked the secret to immortality?)
This is one of those rare books that I loved so much, I struggle to articulate my thoughts. Why did this book resonate so deeply? I’m not sure. Perhaps because I have lost both my parents and I would dearly love to have just one more day with them. Or I like the idea of traveling back in time, not to change my life, but to spend it with my family and loved ones when we were all younger, and appreciate every messy moment.
Everyone is different, but I would not hesitate to read this even in the midst of recent loss. I find it cathartic and soothing. At the time she was writing the book her father, the author Peter Straub, was in the ICU for months and passed away in Sept of 2022.
All the stars for this touching, heartwarming story, which will be on my 2022 favorites list.
• Marin Ireland narrated the audiobook, and did a phenomenal job!
Alice is not exactly unhappy with her life, but it’s the eve of her 40th birthday and she is taking stock of her life. Her career dreams have fizzled, just like her love life, and her father is lying in a hospital bed, nearing the end of his life. Understandably, Alice has already begun grieving.
“grief was something that moved in and stayed. Maybe it moved from one side of the room to the other, farther away from the window, but it was always there.”
She ends up drinking a bit too much, and wakes up in 1996 on her 16th birthday. Her father, Leonard, is in the prime of his life, young and vibrant in ways she did not remember or appreciate when she was 16. As she is herself. How fun would it be to see and appreciate the people and things in your world at 16, through 40-year-old eyes?
“Things were always changing, even when they didn't feel like it. Alice wondered if no one ever felt as old as they were because it happened so slowly, and you were only ever one day slower and creakier, and the world changed so gradually that by the time cars had evolved from boxy to smooth, or green taxis had joined the yellow ones, or Metrocards had replaced tokens, you were used to it. Everyone was a lobster in the pot.”
Alice has a chance to spend time with her dad, appreciate him in ways she didn’t the first time around, and perhaps help him (and herself) make different choices. For those of us who have lost our parents, it’s a dream come true to have more time, or know them when they were young. So poignant and beautifully done by the author.
Alice discovers that she can return to this day again and again, always going back to her 16th birthday and then forward to age 40. Each time Alice goes forward to age 40, she must live with the different choices she makes. Is her different life one that fits her? Can she change everything or are some things in life inevitable regardless of the choices we make? Does she eventually end up in the life that is perfect for her? Is perfect even attainable? Can regret be avoided? What exactly makes up a happy life (spoiler: probably not the Disney version)? All thought-provoking questions that leads to self-reflection for Alice, and for me, the reader.
Straub approaches this familiar trope differently than most authors by not focusing on the “what-ifs”. It’s so much more, and I loved being on this journey with Alice and Leonard.
This sounds like it could go one of two ways: sweetly saccharine or depressingly heavy. But it is neither. Straub uses warmth, humor and fun 90’s nostalgia, as well as a nod to her love of NYC to lighten the story. I loved the pop culture, and the pleasures of the simple and mundane. I loved the relationship between father and daughter, as well as Alice’s relationship with her best friend, Sam.
(Thank goodness Straub didn’t make the teenagers annoying or angsty. And thank goodness Ursula, her cat when she was 16, is still alive when she is 40! Perhaps Ursula has unlocked the secret to immortality?)
This is one of those rare books that I loved so much, I struggle to articulate my thoughts. Why did this book resonate so deeply? I’m not sure. Perhaps because I have lost both my parents and I would dearly love to have just one more day with them. Or I like the idea of traveling back in time, not to change my life, but to spend it with my family and loved ones when we were all younger, and appreciate every messy moment.
Everyone is different, but I would not hesitate to read this even in the midst of recent loss. I find it cathartic and soothing. At the time she was writing the book her father, the author Peter Straub, was in the ICU for months and passed away in Sept of 2022.
All the stars for this touching, heartwarming story, which will be on my 2022 favorites list.
• Marin Ireland narrated the audiobook, and did a phenomenal job!
May 5, 2022
Emma Straub's delightful time travelling novel celebrates New York City and explores the central father-daughter relationship. Native New Yorker Alice is approaching her 40th birthday, she is working in the admissions office of the exclusive and expensive Belvedere School, which she herself had attended, leaving her feeling as if she had never left as she now interviews the children of parents she went to school with. She tries to visit her ailing 73 year old father, Leonard, as much as she can, even though he cannot speak to her, he is going to die soon, it could be anytime and it has her reflecting on where she is in her life and what she has and has not achieved. After meeting her long time best friend, the pregnant Sam, on her birthday, she ends up getting drunk and falling asleep, only to wake up at her childhood Pomander Walk home in 1996 on the morning of her 16th birthday.
Leonard is an offbeat novelist who made his money writing a popular and lucrative sci-fi novel about 2 time travelling brothers that was made into a TV series. The independent Alice had a close relationship with him, she has never belonged to anyone other than Leonard, making her feel so alone, and she has forgotten what he was like before ill health took such a heavy toll on him. She now has a chance to see him anew, a younger man who walks everywhere, without the stress of whether it will be the last time she sees him. Could there possibly be any changes that 16 year old Alice, from her 40 year old perspective, can instigate that might change or influence her and Leonard's life for the better in the future? She is presented with the poignant opportunities to ask questions, hear his stories, some embarrassing, and Alice becomes aware of how many of her school friends she has forgotten through the years, such as Kenji Morris. The reader becomes immersed in 1990s nostalgia with the culture, the popstars and film stars of the period.
Straub's storytelling has oodles of charm, heart and wit, Alice encounters numerous versions of herself, but which is the one that resonates most? The author paints an alluring and heart tugging picture of a father and daughter relationship, of friendship, of life, and its joys, love, loss, grief and challenges. The transitory nature of life is inescapable, pushing the need to tangibly appreciate loved ones in the here and now, Alice gets a second chance to do this through time travel, deepening her understanding and knowledge of Leonard. This is a gloriously engaging, hopeful and entrancing read that I think many readers will enjoy. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
Leonard is an offbeat novelist who made his money writing a popular and lucrative sci-fi novel about 2 time travelling brothers that was made into a TV series. The independent Alice had a close relationship with him, she has never belonged to anyone other than Leonard, making her feel so alone, and she has forgotten what he was like before ill health took such a heavy toll on him. She now has a chance to see him anew, a younger man who walks everywhere, without the stress of whether it will be the last time she sees him. Could there possibly be any changes that 16 year old Alice, from her 40 year old perspective, can instigate that might change or influence her and Leonard's life for the better in the future? She is presented with the poignant opportunities to ask questions, hear his stories, some embarrassing, and Alice becomes aware of how many of her school friends she has forgotten through the years, such as Kenji Morris. The reader becomes immersed in 1990s nostalgia with the culture, the popstars and film stars of the period.
Straub's storytelling has oodles of charm, heart and wit, Alice encounters numerous versions of herself, but which is the one that resonates most? The author paints an alluring and heart tugging picture of a father and daughter relationship, of friendship, of life, and its joys, love, loss, grief and challenges. The transitory nature of life is inescapable, pushing the need to tangibly appreciate loved ones in the here and now, Alice gets a second chance to do this through time travel, deepening her understanding and knowledge of Leonard. This is a gloriously engaging, hopeful and entrancing read that I think many readers will enjoy. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
May 21, 2022
Audiobook….read by Marin Ireland
…..8 hours and 31 minutes.
Tons of heart…and brilliant subtle messages.
I LOVE- LOVE - LOVE this book….love what Emma Straub created.
5+++++ stars …..[emotionally impactful — dazzling, delectable, and salient]
Note: a great gift for a daughter to give dad for Father’s Day coming up….or….a Dad to give his daughter- also on Father’s Day…
Such a wonderful Dad/daughter book buddy read this could be.
After listening to 8 ish hours in only 2 sittings - with a small break in between….(I apologize for delay messages I need to return)….I chatted with Paul about this story — as I sometimes do —
Things I shared with him…
…People who say they have no regrets are lying. It’s human to have regrets…
…."Our choices in life matter — but most are not permanent face tattoos". I wish as parents and educators we emphasized this to our youth more than drill the importance for one more SAT prep course.
…This book had me dreaming, wishing, fantasizing about many little things I wish I might have done differently….
…I thought about my own 16th and 40th birthday ….both were the two ‘most’ memorable birthdays of my life.
…I wish Paul and I had read this novel with Katy and Ali when Katy was around 16 and Ali 12…..
……conversations could spin off in the many valuable themes that Emma covers — opening up an easy vessel to an engrossing ageless-cross-generational—joyful, meaningful, insightful eye-opening discussion/s.
And most…I loved this story — the characters —the mild suspense—the themes - the heart - the compelling cerebral aspects — the fantasy - the hidden truths — the wisdom — and the wonderful sentences and scenarios from start to finish.
A few teasers…..
….Alice had dinner with Sam, her best girlfriend, …then she went to her favorite underground Russian bar.
….Then she got too drunk.
….Then she took a cab back to her father‘s house.
….Then she barf down the street.
….Then she fell asleep outside like a tramp.
….And when Alice woke up she was in bed in the guard house,
her dad's potting shed… ot whatever.
….The guard house was mostly empty… so she moved a few things aside, and passed out.
….Alice wasn’t sure what time she fell asleep but it was probably around 3 or 4 AM.
….If Alice had had her phone she could’ve checked what time Uber dropped her off, but she didn’t have her phone.
….Leonard, Alice’s dad, told Alice it had to be between 3 or 4 AM because that’s the only time it works.
….Daddy shared his story…. about being somewhere else.
….It wasn’t 1996 anymore…..
….At first Leonard thought he was just having some kind of crazy hallucination…
it was 1980… a very special day…..
…."Things were always changing even when it didn’t feel like it".
Alice was a great kid growing up. Many of her friends were all young academic scholars …on the track to Ivy League Colleges —
Alice didn’t know what ‘she’ wanted. She wasn’t good at math but she was great at art. She was so well behaved- she mostly parented herself. If her Dad found drugs in her room he simply removed them- never punished her. He had no rules — because he trusted her.
I was raised the same way. I remember parenting myself so much that I would tell my dates, I had to be home at a certain time. I didn’t.
I set my own boundaries — I didn’t have any.
What was soooo beautiful was the way this tale circles itself — discovers golden gems through time — time that was not relevant per se — but time that underlined ‘be here now’ (without being hokey or spiritual) — simply living our lives — unplanned living with hopes, dreams, love, loss, and hope.
Totally awesome book!!!!!
When Alice was an adult it wasn’t that she and her dad were not having honest conversations during their phone chats.
They were probably better conversations than most adult kids had with their parents. They talked about what Netflix movies they watched—what books they were reading—restaurants—and her dad always liked hearing about the kids that she taught…..
….but they were conversations that skipped happily over more substantial subjects—-
The development of this theme is outstanding….
I honestly could chat about the fabulous details and themes with others for hours….
I’m sure New Yorkers will adore it….great nostalgia particulars…
but this West Coast California girl loved it just as much!!!
…..8 hours and 31 minutes.
Tons of heart…and brilliant subtle messages.
I LOVE- LOVE - LOVE this book….love what Emma Straub created.
5+++++ stars …..[emotionally impactful — dazzling, delectable, and salient]
Note: a great gift for a daughter to give dad for Father’s Day coming up….or….a Dad to give his daughter- also on Father’s Day…
Such a wonderful Dad/daughter book buddy read this could be.
After listening to 8 ish hours in only 2 sittings - with a small break in between….(I apologize for delay messages I need to return)….I chatted with Paul about this story — as I sometimes do —
Things I shared with him…
…People who say they have no regrets are lying. It’s human to have regrets…
…."Our choices in life matter — but most are not permanent face tattoos". I wish as parents and educators we emphasized this to our youth more than drill the importance for one more SAT prep course.
…This book had me dreaming, wishing, fantasizing about many little things I wish I might have done differently….
…I thought about my own 16th and 40th birthday ….both were the two ‘most’ memorable birthdays of my life.
…I wish Paul and I had read this novel with Katy and Ali when Katy was around 16 and Ali 12…..
……conversations could spin off in the many valuable themes that Emma covers — opening up an easy vessel to an engrossing ageless-cross-generational—joyful, meaningful, insightful eye-opening discussion/s.
And most…I loved this story — the characters —the mild suspense—the themes - the heart - the compelling cerebral aspects — the fantasy - the hidden truths — the wisdom — and the wonderful sentences and scenarios from start to finish.
A few teasers…..
….Alice had dinner with Sam, her best girlfriend, …then she went to her favorite underground Russian bar.
….Then she got too drunk.
….Then she took a cab back to her father‘s house.
….Then she barf down the street.
….Then she fell asleep outside like a tramp.
….And when Alice woke up she was in bed in the guard house,
her dad's potting shed… ot whatever.
….The guard house was mostly empty… so she moved a few things aside, and passed out.
….Alice wasn’t sure what time she fell asleep but it was probably around 3 or 4 AM.
….If Alice had had her phone she could’ve checked what time Uber dropped her off, but she didn’t have her phone.
….Leonard, Alice’s dad, told Alice it had to be between 3 or 4 AM because that’s the only time it works.
….Daddy shared his story…. about being somewhere else.
….It wasn’t 1996 anymore…..
….At first Leonard thought he was just having some kind of crazy hallucination…
it was 1980… a very special day…..
…."Things were always changing even when it didn’t feel like it".
Alice was a great kid growing up. Many of her friends were all young academic scholars …on the track to Ivy League Colleges —
Alice didn’t know what ‘she’ wanted. She wasn’t good at math but she was great at art. She was so well behaved- she mostly parented herself. If her Dad found drugs in her room he simply removed them- never punished her. He had no rules — because he trusted her.
I was raised the same way. I remember parenting myself so much that I would tell my dates, I had to be home at a certain time. I didn’t.
I set my own boundaries — I didn’t have any.
What was soooo beautiful was the way this tale circles itself — discovers golden gems through time — time that was not relevant per se — but time that underlined ‘be here now’ (without being hokey or spiritual) — simply living our lives — unplanned living with hopes, dreams, love, loss, and hope.
Totally awesome book!!!!!
When Alice was an adult it wasn’t that she and her dad were not having honest conversations during their phone chats.
They were probably better conversations than most adult kids had with their parents. They talked about what Netflix movies they watched—what books they were reading—restaurants—and her dad always liked hearing about the kids that she taught…..
….but they were conversations that skipped happily over more substantial subjects—-
The development of this theme is outstanding….
I honestly could chat about the fabulous details and themes with others for hours….
I’m sure New Yorkers will adore it….great nostalgia particulars…
but this West Coast California girl loved it just as much!!!
February 22, 2023
What a beautiful book! I loved every minute of my listening experience of this audiobook narrated by the fabulous Marin Ireland.
Having lost my own father ten years ago, I was a little jealous of Alice's ability to go back and spend time with her own father in the past, getting to know him in new and surprising ways. I also loved the ultimate resolution of this story. Time travel books (and movies, etc) of this book's sort always make me super introspective and thoughtful about my own life choices and the resolution of this one is just perfection for me, because it is the ending that makes the most satisfying sense.
The premise of the book is that, on the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice travels back in time to her 16th birthday. Her father, Leonard, who is a famous author for his Time Brothers book, is young and healthy, and in the present day he is hospitalized and doesn't have much time left. As Alice changes various things in her life, it causes her to think and consider more deeply how these changes affect those around her and if they are really the outcomes she wants for herself.
There's so much humor, friendship, love, and creativity in this book. I loved all of the relationships and again, the book made me think a lot about what I'm pouring into people around me and what truly matters in the long run.
Great read, highly recommended!
Re-Read in 2023 for my book club. Still great. Still made me cry. Awesome book.
Having lost my own father ten years ago, I was a little jealous of Alice's ability to go back and spend time with her own father in the past, getting to know him in new and surprising ways. I also loved the ultimate resolution of this story. Time travel books (and movies, etc) of this book's sort always make me super introspective and thoughtful about my own life choices and the resolution of this one is just perfection for me, because it is the ending that makes the most satisfying sense.
The premise of the book is that, on the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice travels back in time to her 16th birthday. Her father, Leonard, who is a famous author for his Time Brothers book, is young and healthy, and in the present day he is hospitalized and doesn't have much time left. As Alice changes various things in her life, it causes her to think and consider more deeply how these changes affect those around her and if they are really the outcomes she wants for herself.
There's so much humor, friendship, love, and creativity in this book. I loved all of the relationships and again, the book made me think a lot about what I'm pouring into people around me and what truly matters in the long run.
Great read, highly recommended!
Re-Read in 2023 for my book club. Still great. Still made me cry. Awesome book.
July 10, 2022
"This Time Tomorrow" by Emma Straub is a book I loved spending time with!
Alice Stern turns forty tomorrow but today she's in a musing mood. She's thinking about her self-reliant single lifestyle, how much she loves living in New York City, her comfortable job, and her deep-rooted friendship with her BFF Sam, who she adores. She's happy isn't she?
Her dad, Leonard is nearing the end of his life and Alice feels as if something is missing in hers. As she sits quietly at his hospital bedside she wonders if she made the right choices or if she just settled for life as it came.
After a night of celebration, Alice wakes to find herself back in her 1996 teenage body on the morning of her sixteenth birthday. She's greeted by a much younger and robust version of her fortyish dad. As she looks at him through the eyes of her forty-year-old mind, is she seeing him clearly for the first time?
This is my first experience reading this author and I had no idea Emma Straub is such a creative author. She writes this story so beautifully with humor and thought provoking topics that touched the memories of the parent that was most active in my own life. Her writing moved me!
I love how the 'time travel' doesn't overshadow but rather enhances the larger story of Alice's emotional journey. She struggles with the impending loss of her dad as she reflects back on her teenage years and gathers her thoughts of her now forty-year-old world. It's a world that will ultimately no longer include her dad.
It stirs questions in the reader about happiness and the satisfaction level in one's own life. What would you change in your life if you could? Would you make that change knowing it would tilt your life towards a different path?
The audiobook was an amazing listen with narrator, Marin Ireland at the helm. I re-listened to several chapters because of the exceptional combination of this author's writing and this narrator's wonderful voicing! Need I say more about how much I loved it?
Beautifully written and creatively designed to bring you to the core of what's really important in your life. Wonderful and quirky characters that are believably real and emotionally supportive to each other. This story makes so much sense to me and I loved every minute I spent with it!
All the stars for all the feels and I highly recommend this book to one and all!
Alice Stern turns forty tomorrow but today she's in a musing mood. She's thinking about her self-reliant single lifestyle, how much she loves living in New York City, her comfortable job, and her deep-rooted friendship with her BFF Sam, who she adores. She's happy isn't she?
Her dad, Leonard is nearing the end of his life and Alice feels as if something is missing in hers. As she sits quietly at his hospital bedside she wonders if she made the right choices or if she just settled for life as it came.
After a night of celebration, Alice wakes to find herself back in her 1996 teenage body on the morning of her sixteenth birthday. She's greeted by a much younger and robust version of her fortyish dad. As she looks at him through the eyes of her forty-year-old mind, is she seeing him clearly for the first time?
This is my first experience reading this author and I had no idea Emma Straub is such a creative author. She writes this story so beautifully with humor and thought provoking topics that touched the memories of the parent that was most active in my own life. Her writing moved me!
I love how the 'time travel' doesn't overshadow but rather enhances the larger story of Alice's emotional journey. She struggles with the impending loss of her dad as she reflects back on her teenage years and gathers her thoughts of her now forty-year-old world. It's a world that will ultimately no longer include her dad.
It stirs questions in the reader about happiness and the satisfaction level in one's own life. What would you change in your life if you could? Would you make that change knowing it would tilt your life towards a different path?
The audiobook was an amazing listen with narrator, Marin Ireland at the helm. I re-listened to several chapters because of the exceptional combination of this author's writing and this narrator's wonderful voicing! Need I say more about how much I loved it?
Beautifully written and creatively designed to bring you to the core of what's really important in your life. Wonderful and quirky characters that are believably real and emotionally supportive to each other. This story makes so much sense to me and I loved every minute I spent with it!
All the stars for all the feels and I highly recommend this book to one and all!
June 1, 2022
Emma Straub fans will be pleased with her new novel, “This Time Tomorrow”. In this story, Straub takes on the idea of time travel and the ability to change the course of your life.
In an NPR interview, Straub admits that this story is close to an autobiographical work in that, like her main character Alice, Straub was stressed and concerned for her father’s health. Straub’s father, the noted horror and suspense author Peter Straub, was gravely ill with a heart condition in August of 2020, and Emma was by his side. She employed that “trauma” in her writing of this story. Ms Straub stated that she has always utilized writing to process her life and comprehend the people in her life. Thus, she wrote a story that most adults with aging parents can relate to: while sitting bedside with an ailing loved one, what if you could time travel back and change the trajectory of your life; would that make a difference in your life or a loved one’s life? Could you improve your future if you knew where your decisions led?
The story opens with Alice sitting next to comatose father as she contemplates her life. She’s 40 years old, never been married, and working at the private school that she attended; basically she’s just drifted through life. She’s questioning her life choices, and she’s wondering if she could have done things differently, would that have led to a better outcome than this? She’s not unhappy, she’s questioning. It’s not like a mid-life crisis, more like a reckoning of all those choices made as an adult. And there’s the wonderment of growth, delayed or arrested development. Why do some people easily move into one phase from another, while others stay in one life stage, failing to launch?
Staub also stated that she wrote the novel with the intention of reminding the reader to appreciate everything you have right now. For example, Alice is 40 when the story begins, and then she time travels back to when she was 16. She’s blown away at how young her father looked, how healthy he was. She is shocked that she ever thought of herself as an unattractive teen. Why didn’t she see herself as she was: young, healthy, intelligent and attractive? Straub prods us to realize that what we have now will be seen by our future self as perfection (you think your aching back is bad? In 20 years you will wish you could return to that “aching” back).
Straub utilizes her strength in insight and humor. This is a story of do-overs. It’s a story of loving what you have.
In an NPR interview, Straub admits that this story is close to an autobiographical work in that, like her main character Alice, Straub was stressed and concerned for her father’s health. Straub’s father, the noted horror and suspense author Peter Straub, was gravely ill with a heart condition in August of 2020, and Emma was by his side. She employed that “trauma” in her writing of this story. Ms Straub stated that she has always utilized writing to process her life and comprehend the people in her life. Thus, she wrote a story that most adults with aging parents can relate to: while sitting bedside with an ailing loved one, what if you could time travel back and change the trajectory of your life; would that make a difference in your life or a loved one’s life? Could you improve your future if you knew where your decisions led?
The story opens with Alice sitting next to comatose father as she contemplates her life. She’s 40 years old, never been married, and working at the private school that she attended; basically she’s just drifted through life. She’s questioning her life choices, and she’s wondering if she could have done things differently, would that have led to a better outcome than this? She’s not unhappy, she’s questioning. It’s not like a mid-life crisis, more like a reckoning of all those choices made as an adult. And there’s the wonderment of growth, delayed or arrested development. Why do some people easily move into one phase from another, while others stay in one life stage, failing to launch?
Staub also stated that she wrote the novel with the intention of reminding the reader to appreciate everything you have right now. For example, Alice is 40 when the story begins, and then she time travels back to when she was 16. She’s blown away at how young her father looked, how healthy he was. She is shocked that she ever thought of herself as an unattractive teen. Why didn’t she see herself as she was: young, healthy, intelligent and attractive? Straub prods us to realize that what we have now will be seen by our future self as perfection (you think your aching back is bad? In 20 years you will wish you could return to that “aching” back).
Straub utilizes her strength in insight and humor. This is a story of do-overs. It’s a story of loving what you have.
February 13, 2022
I found Straub's last book ALL ADULTS HERE a bit too schmaltzy for me but I am a sucker for time travel so I picked this one up. But I forgot when I did so that the Schmaltzy Time Travel story is a thing (Quantum Leap, for starters) because time travel can make you get all nostalgic about how things used to be/could have been.
I could have forgiven a lot of the schmaltz of the second half if the first half was more cohesive. We start off laying the groundwork, showing us where Alice is in her life. On paper Alice's life doesn't look like much, but that actually bugged me! Alice seems pretty cool! She may not have the best job, she may not have a perfect romantic partner, but she also doesn't seem to be plagued by anxiety about what she doesn't have. The big problem for Alice is her father's illness, he is in the hospital close to death. This is where the book will end up taking us, to this father-daughter relationship, but it's weirdly not where it spends most of its time in the first half.
When we do get the time travel, it's super weird how Alice doesn't seem all that worried about it. (If I had to potentially relive my life starting from the age of 16 I would be deeply deeply depressed! Having to redo school sounds like absolute torture!) Instead we move into nostalgia world. Some of this is sweet as Alice gets to spend time with her dad and appreciate his younger self in a way she couldn't then. Some of it is very oh isn't New York amazing??? (but only because this takes place almost entirely above Central Park South) and I have very low tolerance for that.
I know this isn't a mystery but also I knew exactly where all of this was going from pretty much the beginning. Which is why I was so confused as we meandered through a whole different book before it got to what it was actually about. Alice's choices after she's gone back in time often don't make much sense, they don't feel rooted in who she really is or some idea of who she wants to be. And the book is better when it gets to its center, even if the center is the schmaltziest bit. Because at least that felt true and grounded.
There are lots of long observations here, some of them sharp and hilarious, others that don't hit at all. So much of it is very much wanting to just sit and look around and consider how different things were 25 years ago. This will probably work great for a lot of readers, but for me it often didn't land.
I could have forgiven a lot of the schmaltz of the second half if the first half was more cohesive. We start off laying the groundwork, showing us where Alice is in her life. On paper Alice's life doesn't look like much, but that actually bugged me! Alice seems pretty cool! She may not have the best job, she may not have a perfect romantic partner, but she also doesn't seem to be plagued by anxiety about what she doesn't have. The big problem for Alice is her father's illness, he is in the hospital close to death. This is where the book will end up taking us, to this father-daughter relationship, but it's weirdly not where it spends most of its time in the first half.
When we do get the time travel, it's super weird how Alice doesn't seem all that worried about it. (If I had to potentially relive my life starting from the age of 16 I would be deeply deeply depressed! Having to redo school sounds like absolute torture!) Instead we move into nostalgia world. Some of this is sweet as Alice gets to spend time with her dad and appreciate his younger self in a way she couldn't then. Some of it is very oh isn't New York amazing??? (but only because this takes place almost entirely above Central Park South) and I have very low tolerance for that.
I know this isn't a mystery but also I knew exactly where all of this was going from pretty much the beginning. Which is why I was so confused as we meandered through a whole different book before it got to what it was actually about. Alice's choices after she's gone back in time often don't make much sense, they don't feel rooted in who she really is or some idea of who she wants to be. And the book is better when it gets to its center, even if the center is the schmaltziest bit. Because at least that felt true and grounded.
There are lots of long observations here, some of them sharp and hilarious, others that don't hit at all. So much of it is very much wanting to just sit and look around and consider how different things were 25 years ago. This will probably work great for a lot of readers, but for me it often didn't land.
June 26, 2022
Probably my favorite read of the year so far. I haven't cried this much reading a book in........years??????? I cannot believe that I have been sleeping on Emma Straub for so long. This was EVERYTHING and I have ordered her entire backlist because I need MORE immediately
CW: death of a parent
CW: death of a parent
June 9, 2022
4 -5 stars rounded up.
As Alice Stern's 40th birthday is fast approaching, she ruminates on the time it takes to die as she watches her beloved father, novelist Leonard doing exactly that. Without giving too much away she finds a portal which transports her back to her 16th birthday in 1996! I find myself deeply envious of the opportunities this affords Alice especially in her relationship with Leonard.
I love Emma Straub’s books so I guess I am very much the target audience for this one! The quality of her writing, the wry tone, the incisive nature of Alice’s thoughts effortlessly pull you into her world and you find yourself totally accepting the concept of the novel. It’s a poignant and emotional story as Alice reflects and becomes introspective on her life and what she has and hasn’t achieved.
Alice at 16 and at 40 are both wonderfully portrayed. It’s interesting seeing the decisions she makes , what leads to them and how she feels towards her peers as she peers through 40 year old eyes. All the characters are well fleshed out and so easy to visualise but the standout feature is the relationship between Alice and Leonard, what a wonderful man he is. I love that it gives her the chance to ask him the questions she never did as a 16-year-old, because why would you? I am envious that I haven’t the opportunity to do the same!
The other ‘stars’ of the show are the 1990s and New York City. The back to the future style trip evokes wonderful and multiple memories especially of film and music, the 90s being all about Oasis for me! The setting in New York City especially Pomander Walk where her father lives is full of charm and atmosphere but it’s very much a love letter to this vibrant and exciting city. The author transports me back to my trip there!
It’s a delightful journey, beautifully written and I finish it with a lump in my throat. You never know what’s coming and you just have to be happy with what is there.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin Random House/Michael Joseph for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
As Alice Stern's 40th birthday is fast approaching, she ruminates on the time it takes to die as she watches her beloved father, novelist Leonard doing exactly that. Without giving too much away she finds a portal which transports her back to her 16th birthday in 1996! I find myself deeply envious of the opportunities this affords Alice especially in her relationship with Leonard.
I love Emma Straub’s books so I guess I am very much the target audience for this one! The quality of her writing, the wry tone, the incisive nature of Alice’s thoughts effortlessly pull you into her world and you find yourself totally accepting the concept of the novel. It’s a poignant and emotional story as Alice reflects and becomes introspective on her life and what she has and hasn’t achieved.
Alice at 16 and at 40 are both wonderfully portrayed. It’s interesting seeing the decisions she makes , what leads to them and how she feels towards her peers as she peers through 40 year old eyes. All the characters are well fleshed out and so easy to visualise but the standout feature is the relationship between Alice and Leonard, what a wonderful man he is. I love that it gives her the chance to ask him the questions she never did as a 16-year-old, because why would you? I am envious that I haven’t the opportunity to do the same!
The other ‘stars’ of the show are the 1990s and New York City. The back to the future style trip evokes wonderful and multiple memories especially of film and music, the 90s being all about Oasis for me! The setting in New York City especially Pomander Walk where her father lives is full of charm and atmosphere but it’s very much a love letter to this vibrant and exciting city. The author transports me back to my trip there!
It’s a delightful journey, beautifully written and I finish it with a lump in my throat. You never know what’s coming and you just have to be happy with what is there.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin Random House/Michael Joseph for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
August 19, 2022
3.50 Stars
January 20, 2024
Alice wasn’t a writer, but she’d spent enough time sitting at dinner tables with novelists to understand that fiction was a myth. Fictional stories, that is. Maybe there were bad ones out there, but the good ones, the good ones—those were always true. Not the facts, not the rights and the lefts, not the plots, which could take place in outer space or in hell or anywhere in between, but the feelings. The feelings were the truth.
…
“How do I know if I’m living the right life?”
…
Happy endings were too much for some people, false and cheap, but hope—hope was honest. Hope was good.
Alice is about to turn 40 and she’s a bit stuck. She’s not the artist she hoped to be. She’s got a decent job as the Admissions Director at the private school where she was once a student, but her boss is retiring and that places everything in flux. She’s in a year-long relationship that is more than a bit lacking. But all of that is secondary to the fact that her beloved father is dying. So on the night of her 40th birthday, she has a little too much to drink and the crashes at her father’s house, only to wake up the next morning in her youthful body on the morning of her 16th birthday. Is it a dream? Or has she been given some type of chance to do something different that day that could affect her life—and her father’s—in the present?
It’s hard to say much more about This Time Tomorrow without spoiling elements of the story. The mechanics of the time travel are revealed pretty late in the story, but they work and they suit the narrative. The novel expressly mentions influences such as the movies Peggy Sue Got Married and Back to the Future. I would say that it was also influenced by books such as Replay, 11/22/63, and The Midnight Library. I dare say the time travel portion of the story will feel familiar, and the ending may disappoint some readers looking for a different type of resolution.
The time travel genre is a crowded space, or maybe it just feels crowded because I’m a sucker for time travel novels 😄. What separates This Time Tomorrow from so many other similar books is that Alice’s focus is not on finding love, or on fixing some past personal catastrophe. It’s a story about a perfectly ordinary adult who loves a dying parent and is given an impossible chance to interact with that parent in his prime and to re-experience all the little things about him that she didn’t appreciate at the time.
The story was complicated—portals, a mystery to solve, different years, different realities. But Alice could read it for what it was, which was a love story. Not a romance—there was no sex in the entire book, a few kisses, that was it—the book was about the love between a single parent and their only child. It wasn't funny. It was earnest. It was the kind of thing that Leonard would never have said aloud to Alice, not in a million years. But it was true all the same.
Ms. Straub has acknowledged that this story was inspired by caring for her father (novelist Peter Straub) through a serious illness. Their father-daughter relationship is the core of this novel, and it makes this book unique and surprisingly moving. Recommended.
September 3, 2023
What a very long time one had to be an adult, after rushing through childhood and adolescence.
What if I tell you that this book triggered everything that it could in me?
What if I tell you that Emma Straub enters in your life as a friend with her best intentions but then, you don't know how, during your time together she’s become your therapist?
What if I tell you that maybe, just maybe, even if she's everything that you're avoiding, she's exactly what you needed?
A little disclaimer before we start: every hour of every day, I have anxiety. I didn't choose to, I don't want to, but I'm stuck with it. The only thing I can do to prevent the worst is to avoid what triggers me, such as death thoughts, ageing thoughts, those years I was bullied at school, men yelling in the streets, and I could go on like this all day long. It's not an easy life, or even a very nice one, but we can't choose our weaknesses.
So, that said, a very important aspect of my tbr list is to avoid books that can give me panic attacks. Usually, I can feel my skin itching when I'm in proximity to one of those; I don't even have to read the first page, I already know.
This time tomorrow, as much as you can predict its importance, didn't ring any of my bells. And this is why I'm certain Emma Straub could be a fantastic therapist: she starts with baby steps, introducing the setting and the characters; then, you're hooked and you want more; all of a sudden, we're talking about time travels and you feel you're trap in a 90s movie.
It doesn't hit you straightforward, what she's saying. Alice goes back and forth, and it's just like other time-travel stories, but it’s not because she’s not just a normal person, with the insecurities and expectations that come with being a woman in our society. She doesn't know what she wants, what she's supposed to want, how much she wants to change in her life and how. She just wants to save her father, probably the most difficult thing of all.
What Emma Straub has created is a work of art in terms of talking about adulthood and the expectations that come with it, about the relationship between parents and children, about loss and the awful reality of acceptance, about hope and how you should never stop hoping - even if sometimes it's even more painful to keep hoping that let it go.
↠ 4 stars
What if I tell you that this book triggered everything that it could in me?
What if I tell you that Emma Straub enters in your life as a friend with her best intentions but then, you don't know how, during your time together she’s become your therapist?
What if I tell you that maybe, just maybe, even if she's everything that you're avoiding, she's exactly what you needed?
A little disclaimer before we start: every hour of every day, I have anxiety. I didn't choose to, I don't want to, but I'm stuck with it. The only thing I can do to prevent the worst is to avoid what triggers me, such as death thoughts, ageing thoughts, those years I was bullied at school, men yelling in the streets, and I could go on like this all day long. It's not an easy life, or even a very nice one, but we can't choose our weaknesses.
So, that said, a very important aspect of my tbr list is to avoid books that can give me panic attacks. Usually, I can feel my skin itching when I'm in proximity to one of those; I don't even have to read the first page, I already know.
This time tomorrow, as much as you can predict its importance, didn't ring any of my bells. And this is why I'm certain Emma Straub could be a fantastic therapist: she starts with baby steps, introducing the setting and the characters; then, you're hooked and you want more; all of a sudden, we're talking about time travels and you feel you're trap in a 90s movie.
It doesn't hit you straightforward, what she's saying. Alice goes back and forth, and it's just like other time-travel stories, but it’s not because she’s not just a normal person, with the insecurities and expectations that come with being a woman in our society. She doesn't know what she wants, what she's supposed to want, how much she wants to change in her life and how. She just wants to save her father, probably the most difficult thing of all.
What Emma Straub has created is a work of art in terms of talking about adulthood and the expectations that come with it, about the relationship between parents and children, about loss and the awful reality of acceptance, about hope and how you should never stop hoping - even if sometimes it's even more painful to keep hoping that let it go.
↠ 4 stars
May 19, 2022
this was a quick read, but left me wanting a lot more. i love the time travel/alternate universe trope, however it wasn’t my favorite out of some i’ve read.
i found it most difficult to connect with the female MC. i was much more attached to the male MC (dad) and wanted even more there from his POV or thoughts. i also found the ending to be rushed/random.
i wanted to love it more, especially since it centered around the unique bond between daughter and dad as that’s very relatable for me. it was adorable and left me in my feels, but just needed MORE.
overall, i didn’t love it but didn’t dislike it. it kept me invested and had alot of good moments and some really good quotes and perspective on what’s important and what matters and how life just happens.
thank you to Riverhead for my gifted copy! this cover is beautiful.
i found it most difficult to connect with the female MC. i was much more attached to the male MC (dad) and wanted even more there from his POV or thoughts. i also found the ending to be rushed/random.
i wanted to love it more, especially since it centered around the unique bond between daughter and dad as that’s very relatable for me. it was adorable and left me in my feels, but just needed MORE.
overall, i didn’t love it but didn’t dislike it. it kept me invested and had alot of good moments and some really good quotes and perspective on what’s important and what matters and how life just happens.
thank you to Riverhead for my gifted copy! this cover is beautiful.
February 7, 2023
This book felt close to my heart. Having lost my father 12 years ago to cancer, I wish i could be Alice, go back in time, see my father in his younger years, revisit the evolution of our relationship and cherish it, savor it, adore it. Ahh, I’m still thinking about this book!
This Time Tomorrow reminded me of the movie Sliding Door with Gweneth Paltrow. How one move, one change, can alter the entire trajectory of your future.
Emma Straub takes the time travel trope, with care and kindness, exploring more than just lust and love, but a relationship between a father and daughter.
Alice is 40, unmarried, childless, and her father is sick. When she wakes up in an unexpected way she's 16 and her Dad's 40, healthy. She gets to go back in time to fix the mistakes of her past to create a more hopeful future.
I connected with the time period-90's, the odes to music and actors of the time, and also related well to the writing. It was crisp, authentic. The book ebbed and flowed in a way that sometimes slowed, but always picked up and kept me interest.
I laughed, but I also cried, a lot. This book came as a gift, worth savoring.
4.5/5 stars
This Time Tomorrow reminded me of the movie Sliding Door with Gweneth Paltrow. How one move, one change, can alter the entire trajectory of your future.
Emma Straub takes the time travel trope, with care and kindness, exploring more than just lust and love, but a relationship between a father and daughter.
Alice is 40, unmarried, childless, and her father is sick. When she wakes up in an unexpected way she's 16 and her Dad's 40, healthy. She gets to go back in time to fix the mistakes of her past to create a more hopeful future.
Any story could be a comedy or a tragedy, depending on where you ended it. That was the magic. How the same story could be told an infinite number of ways
I connected with the time period-90's, the odes to music and actors of the time, and also related well to the writing. It was crisp, authentic. The book ebbed and flowed in a way that sometimes slowed, but always picked up and kept me interest.
I laughed, but I also cried, a lot. This book came as a gift, worth savoring.
4.5/5 stars
June 27, 2022
[4.5] I always enjoy Emma Straub's writing and expected a summery read that also digs deep into relationships. But this time I got much more. A 40-year woman with a dying father is drifting along when she finds the chance to travel back in time to the day she turns 16. I love the message of this novel, of finding the love and friendship in your life and appreciating it fully, especially the tender father-daughter relationship. I lost my father very recently and this novel strikes a deep chord in me.
June 8, 2022
The morning after her 40th birthday, Alice wakes up a 16 year old girl. She’s doubly shocked when she sees her father who was at death’s door in the future, is hale and hearty.
Is there a reason she has traveled back in time? Is there something she can do to fix the future?
When I read the synopsis of this book, I thought it’s going to be an interesting read about going back in time and trying to straighten things out.
But what I got was someone traveling back and forth in time so many times, I felt woozy.
Add the cliché about ‘what if I kill baby Hitler', repetitious descriptions and meaningless conversations and apparently it being normal for teenagers to use drugs and smoke weed and cigarettes, even at school. At times it felt like I'm watching the movie 13 Going on 30 but in reverse.
Is there a reason she has traveled back in time? Is there something she can do to fix the future?
When I read the synopsis of this book, I thought it’s going to be an interesting read about going back in time and trying to straighten things out.
But what I got was someone traveling back and forth in time so many times, I felt woozy.
Add the cliché about ‘what if I kill baby Hitler', repetitious descriptions and meaningless conversations and apparently it being normal for teenagers to use drugs and smoke weed and cigarettes, even at school. At times it felt like I'm watching the movie 13 Going on 30 but in reverse.
June 19, 2022
In This Time Tomorrow, Alice is celebrating her 40th birthday. Her life is fine, maybe not amazing but she’s satisfied with things, minus the fact that her dad’s health isn’t well. She goes to sleep that night and wakes up back in 1996, as her 16 year old self. She’s young, her dad is younger again and she has no idea what’s going on. Once Alice accepts that she’s there in the past, can she change anything, positively impacting their future?
There is an element of time travel in this story however as a non sci-fi reader, it wasn’t overly complicated — I was able to just go with it. I enjoyed Alice and Leo’s father daughter relationship as well as Alice’s relationship with her best friend, Sam.
This Time Tomorrow is a sweet story with some humor that prompts appreciation for the time we have.
There is an element of time travel in this story however as a non sci-fi reader, it wasn’t overly complicated — I was able to just go with it. I enjoyed Alice and Leo’s father daughter relationship as well as Alice’s relationship with her best friend, Sam.
This Time Tomorrow is a sweet story with some humor that prompts appreciation for the time we have.
December 1, 2021
**I received an ARC of this title from the publisher, because I am a librarian and librarians are awesome!**
Probably one of my faves of the year, for overall poignancy and a great take on the time travel trope. Also, cheers to being sixteen in 1996. Every reference, from the music to Rum Raisin to the Reality Bites poster to the faux Jordan Catalano leather thong choker was spot on. CK One! The Craft! I want to send this to all of the best girl friends I had at sixteen, but it's not out until May of next year!
If you found The Midnight Library overly saccharine, this comes across much more subtly.
I mean, I am pretty much THE audience for this book: exact right age demographic down to the year, loves reflective women's fiction, loves time travel stories. So it's not surprising that I enjoyed this one. What was unexpected was how much I loved Straub's writing style, the way she handled poignant introspection.
It was also nice not to read a romance for a change. (I'm getting a little burned out on romances. THERE I SAID IT.)
I've had a good string of books that I've really enjoyed lately. I don't know if it's because I'm in a mood for a certain thing and have the brainspace to read, or if it's because I'm really reading excellent books. Probably a little of both.
Probably one of my faves of the year, for overall poignancy and a great take on the time travel trope. Also, cheers to being sixteen in 1996. Every reference, from the music to Rum Raisin to the Reality Bites poster to the faux Jordan Catalano leather thong choker was spot on. CK One! The Craft! I want to send this to all of the best girl friends I had at sixteen, but it's not out until May of next year!
If you found The Midnight Library overly saccharine, this comes across much more subtly.
I mean, I am pretty much THE audience for this book: exact right age demographic down to the year, loves reflective women's fiction, loves time travel stories. So it's not surprising that I enjoyed this one. What was unexpected was how much I loved Straub's writing style, the way she handled poignant introspection.
It was also nice not to read a romance for a change. (I'm getting a little burned out on romances. THERE I SAID IT.)
I've had a good string of books that I've really enjoyed lately. I don't know if it's because I'm in a mood for a certain thing and have the brainspace to read, or if it's because I'm really reading excellent books. Probably a little of both.
January 12, 2023
This was a book that found me at just the right time. I'm grateful to the Goodreads friend whose review prompted me to give this novel a chance. It was my first time reading Emma Straub, but I was so impressed with "This Time Tomorrow" that I am interested in checking out her previous books.
I love a good time travel/Sliding Doors-type story, and this one was set up nicely. The first quarter of the book shows our heroine, Alice, living a rather sad and lonely life in New York, taking care of her dying father. I don't know anything about the author's real life experiences, but her description of taking care of a sick parent was spot on — it reminded me of trying to care for my mother when she had cancer, and I was moved to tears several times.
Then on her 40th birthday, Alice sees the guy she had loved back in high school for the first time in years, which reminds her of when he broke her heart on her 16th birthday. While out celebrating her birthday, Alice gets very drunk and ends up crashing at her dad's house. When she wakes up, she's 16 again and chooses to make some different decisions that end up affecting the rest of her (new) life.
What pleasantly surprised me about this book was how thoughtful and observant it was about Alice's life and the world around her. I loved that when Alice was 16 again, she was desperate to talk to her father and hear his stories while he was still relatively young and healthy. That is the burden of growing up, isn't it? As a kid it's easy to forget that your parents have their own separate lives, but when you are mature enough to realize you'd like to consult them for advice on how they managed everything, all too often they aren't around to share their wisdom.
In short, this book cast a spell over me and I was content to be immersed in the possibilities of its world. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Marin Ireland, who did a marvelous job. (Previously I had listened to her read "Anxious People" by Fredrik Backman, which she also knocked out of the park.) Finishing the book was bittersweet because I had so enjoyed spending time with Alice, her father and her best friend, Sam, who sounds like the very bestest friend in the whole world. "This Time Tomorrow" is a thought-provoking novel that I would highly recommend.
Favorite Quotes
"All her life, she'd thought of death as the single moment, the heart stopping, the final breath, but now she knew that it could be much more like giving birth, with nine months of preparations. Her father was heavily pregnant with death, and there was little to do but wait."
"[G]rief was something that moved in and stayed. Maybe it moved from one side of the room to the other, farther away from the window, but it was always there."
"Maybe that was the trick to life: to notice all the tiny moments in the day when everything else fell away and, for a split second, or maybe even a few seconds, you had no worries, only pleasure, only appreciation of what was right in front of you."
"Alice wondered if no one ever felt as old as they were because it happened so slowly, and you were only ever one day slower and creakier, and the world changed so gradually that by the time cars had evolved from boxy to smooth, or green taxis had joined yellow ones, or MetroCards had replaced tokens, you were used to it. Everyone was a lobster in the pot."
"He had been young, and she had been young - they had been young together. Why was it so hard to see that, how close generations were? That children and their parents were companions through life. Maybe that's why she was here now. Maybe this was the moment when they were both at their best, and together."
"What a very long time one had to be an adult, after rushing through childhood and adolescence."
"The way you spend your days is the way you spend your life."
I love a good time travel/Sliding Doors-type story, and this one was set up nicely. The first quarter of the book shows our heroine, Alice, living a rather sad and lonely life in New York, taking care of her dying father. I don't know anything about the author's real life experiences, but her description of taking care of a sick parent was spot on — it reminded me of trying to care for my mother when she had cancer, and I was moved to tears several times.
Then on her 40th birthday, Alice sees the guy she had loved back in high school for the first time in years, which reminds her of when he broke her heart on her 16th birthday. While out celebrating her birthday, Alice gets very drunk and ends up crashing at her dad's house. When she wakes up, she's 16 again and chooses to make some different decisions that end up affecting the rest of her (new) life.
What pleasantly surprised me about this book was how thoughtful and observant it was about Alice's life and the world around her. I loved that when Alice was 16 again, she was desperate to talk to her father and hear his stories while he was still relatively young and healthy. That is the burden of growing up, isn't it? As a kid it's easy to forget that your parents have their own separate lives, but when you are mature enough to realize you'd like to consult them for advice on how they managed everything, all too often they aren't around to share their wisdom.
In short, this book cast a spell over me and I was content to be immersed in the possibilities of its world. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Marin Ireland, who did a marvelous job. (Previously I had listened to her read "Anxious People" by Fredrik Backman, which she also knocked out of the park.) Finishing the book was bittersweet because I had so enjoyed spending time with Alice, her father and her best friend, Sam, who sounds like the very bestest friend in the whole world. "This Time Tomorrow" is a thought-provoking novel that I would highly recommend.
Favorite Quotes
"All her life, she'd thought of death as the single moment, the heart stopping, the final breath, but now she knew that it could be much more like giving birth, with nine months of preparations. Her father was heavily pregnant with death, and there was little to do but wait."
"[G]rief was something that moved in and stayed. Maybe it moved from one side of the room to the other, farther away from the window, but it was always there."
"Maybe that was the trick to life: to notice all the tiny moments in the day when everything else fell away and, for a split second, or maybe even a few seconds, you had no worries, only pleasure, only appreciation of what was right in front of you."
"Alice wondered if no one ever felt as old as they were because it happened so slowly, and you were only ever one day slower and creakier, and the world changed so gradually that by the time cars had evolved from boxy to smooth, or green taxis had joined yellow ones, or MetroCards had replaced tokens, you were used to it. Everyone was a lobster in the pot."
"He had been young, and she had been young - they had been young together. Why was it so hard to see that, how close generations were? That children and their parents were companions through life. Maybe that's why she was here now. Maybe this was the moment when they were both at their best, and together."
"What a very long time one had to be an adult, after rushing through childhood and adolescence."
"The way you spend your days is the way you spend your life."
June 23, 2022
Full disclosure: I am a S.U.C.K.E.R. for the “do-over” trope. From . . . .
To . . . .
To . . . .
And every other film ever made on the subject, I am always there for it. After this latest release, I’m also declaring myself a superfan of Emma Straub. All of her books have been hits for me and this was no exception. Maybe it was the trope itself or maybe it was simply that Alice was so close to my own age that when she found herself reliving her 16th birthday on the eve of her actual 40th birthday every reference hit the mark . . . .
I ended up picking this one up by chance on Father’s Day . . . .
(belated shout-out to all you fellas)
With no knowledge that this story would also contain such a strong father/daughter theme. Once again, it simply checked all of the boxes. Some books make me feel mired down in the details, but I couldn’t get enough here. From the posters on Alice’s teenage bedroom wall to the song selections to the magical neighborhood where she grew up . . . .
I was hoping for Alice’s happy ending throughout. And speaking of the ending – completely satisfying. Solid 4 Stars for me.
To . . . .
To . . . .
And every other film ever made on the subject, I am always there for it. After this latest release, I’m also declaring myself a superfan of Emma Straub. All of her books have been hits for me and this was no exception. Maybe it was the trope itself or maybe it was simply that Alice was so close to my own age that when she found herself reliving her 16th birthday on the eve of her actual 40th birthday every reference hit the mark . . . .
I ended up picking this one up by chance on Father’s Day . . . .
(belated shout-out to all you fellas)
With no knowledge that this story would also contain such a strong father/daughter theme. Once again, it simply checked all of the boxes. Some books make me feel mired down in the details, but I couldn’t get enough here. From the posters on Alice’s teenage bedroom wall to the song selections to the magical neighborhood where she grew up . . . .
I was hoping for Alice’s happy ending throughout. And speaking of the ending – completely satisfying. Solid 4 Stars for me.
November 24, 2022
Heart-Felt & Thought-Provoking.
On the night before Alice’s 40th birthday, she goes to bed thinking about life, her hopes and dreams, and her ailing father. When she wakes up, it’s 1996, and it’s her 16th birthday. She now has the chance to spend time with her dad in ways she didn’t before, to appreciate the little things, and to go after the guy who got away.
And so it goes once Alice discovers that upon turning 40, she can go back to 1996 time and again, each time making different choices. How will she choose to live her life and what impact will it have on others?
A beautiful, sweet, poignant read that I wholly enjoyed. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Marin Ireland, who I adore.
4.5 stars
Huge thanks to my local library for loaning me a copy of this fabulous book.
On the night before Alice’s 40th birthday, she goes to bed thinking about life, her hopes and dreams, and her ailing father. When she wakes up, it’s 1996, and it’s her 16th birthday. She now has the chance to spend time with her dad in ways she didn’t before, to appreciate the little things, and to go after the guy who got away.
And so it goes once Alice discovers that upon turning 40, she can go back to 1996 time and again, each time making different choices. How will she choose to live her life and what impact will it have on others?
A beautiful, sweet, poignant read that I wholly enjoyed. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Marin Ireland, who I adore.
4.5 stars
Huge thanks to my local library for loaning me a copy of this fabulous book.
June 5, 2022
Coming off a time of loss in my family that prompted a lot of personal retrospection, I wasn’t so sure about my readiness to read this book - but I’m really glad I did. Although I’m not the biggest magical realism fan, to say the least, and therefore wasn’t sure how I was going to like the time travel mechanism in this book either, Straub deploys this in a relatively unassuming and low-key way that SO well captures the process of coping with impending or ambiguous parental loss, engaging in grieving and reflection, and working toward acceptance and integration of the loss in moving forward. In particular, the special affection and bond between a single parent and a teen/young adult child, both struggling to do their best for themselves and one another over time, is movingly explored. All time travel novels seem to deal to some degree with questions of “should I or shouldn’t I have done ______?” or “what would have happened if I had done ______ instead?” or “how could I have stopped ______from happening?”, but I think Straub recognizes that these ultimately aren’t always the most useful or even interesting questions to ask - healing and cultivating self-trust, hope, and resilience around what DID actually happen is probably more useful and interesting - and she handled all this in a subtle way that I felt was refreshingly different. Straub is also characteristically very skilled at depicting smart teenagers, giving them credit for just how wise they can be, and also depicting strong female friendships and mentorships. I didn’t like Straub’s last novel, All Adults Here, very much, and I found Modern Lovers delightful but instantly forgot it, but in this one, Straub takes things to the next level and it felt very personal and deeper than her usual fare even though it was still a relatively light and enjoyable, summer-appropriate read. It’s a keeper that I hope will be around today and yes, tomorrow.
May 20, 2022
Well, I have read her thoughts on her father, her mother, her boyfriend, her best friend, her apartment as opposed to her boyfriend’s apartment, her age, her career choice, what the building looks like that she works in, what her career choice might have been, how she feels about children in general and not having any children in particular. I am so sorry to say this because I paid full price for this book, but I am 10%in and bored out of my mind. Maybe someday, I will run out of money for new books and have to finish it (the blurb makes it sound really great). In the meantime, it is back to Kindle Unlimited.
June 4, 2022
DNF
I can’t get into this book at all.
From all the high reviews, it might be a me thing. I tried to pick it up and each time I put it back down.
The writing dragged for me, it felt so impersonal. Like being an observer to someone else observing their life. It felt clinical and remote.
It might be good for others, but it wasn’t for me.
December 8, 2022
Where is the beginning in a book about time? For Alice, it is in the middle at her father's side. I thought about that when yet early into reading this, because most time travel stories will end with a reasoning in mind. The ending is connected to the beginning. I've read quite a few with similar themes, though not as many as I might have guessed, seeing many others brought up in the midst of this story. Leonard, father of Alice, being a writer, has written one himself. A book about young time-traveling brothers with a purpose of saving the world with each jump. In more than a few instances, Alice mentions “Peggy Sue Got Married”, who wakes to realize it was all simply a dream, and what's the point in that. What I liked about This Time Tomorrow is the way in which its direction was not lost, even when I thought it turned towards Groundhog Day (a great movie btw, but not suited here), or spending too much time with the thoughts of a teenager. Most of those thoughts and dialogue were actually humorous, but not where the story line should remain, except in the relationship between Alice and her father. Like many stories, the middle of the book is about change, or realizing what can and what shouldn't. That's the way and end meets its beginning, and hopefully those realizations along the way are remembered.
June 18, 2022
Emma Straub's 'This Time Tomorrow' is perfect for a refreshing and intriguing summertime (or anytime) read and/or listen.
Main character, Alice Stern is reluctant in accepting the impending death of her 73-year-old father Leonard. He is ironically famous for his time travel novel 'Time Brothers', which was also made into a popular TV series. There is nothing Alice wants more than additional time with her father. She passionately wishes she could go back to the past and change that and many other life choices she made as a young(er) person."Alice just wanted to push her hands against the walls of her life and see if they would move. She wanted to hit the reset button over and over again until everyone was happy, forever."
As expected, Alice finds a way to time travel going back and forth between her past and present lives and learns some shocking revelations about her father's life when she was a child. She also seeks to change aspects of her past into what she believes will give her the ideal present life she has always yearned. For example, she works on trying to convince Leonard's (past) 40-year-old self to quit smoking so his 73-year-old self would not be so close death. She also wishes she could be married her childhood love interest when she sees him during the return visits to her past. These are a few examples of the important things Alice thinks would make her present life more meaningful and less stagnant. Some of what she wants changed happens, while not everything. In addition, when she does get what she "thought" she wanted she realizes maybe her life unfolded the way it did because that was the way it was meant to be all along.
In the end what Alice concludes as a result of her time traveling experiences is optimistically reassuring: "All the tiny pieces added together make a life, but the pieces could always be rearranged."
Narrator Marin Ireland never disappoints and does an absolutely tremendous job as the sole narrator for this novel. Her voice inflections and character transitions were seamless.
Main character, Alice Stern is reluctant in accepting the impending death of her 73-year-old father Leonard. He is ironically famous for his time travel novel 'Time Brothers', which was also made into a popular TV series. There is nothing Alice wants more than additional time with her father. She passionately wishes she could go back to the past and change that and many other life choices she made as a young(er) person."Alice just wanted to push her hands against the walls of her life and see if they would move. She wanted to hit the reset button over and over again until everyone was happy, forever."
As expected, Alice finds a way to time travel going back and forth between her past and present lives and learns some shocking revelations about her father's life when she was a child. She also seeks to change aspects of her past into what she believes will give her the ideal present life she has always yearned. For example, she works on trying to convince Leonard's (past) 40-year-old self to quit smoking so his 73-year-old self would not be so close death. She also wishes she could be married her childhood love interest when she sees him during the return visits to her past. These are a few examples of the important things Alice thinks would make her present life more meaningful and less stagnant. Some of what she wants changed happens, while not everything. In addition, when she does get what she "thought" she wanted she realizes maybe her life unfolded the way it did because that was the way it was meant to be all along.
In the end what Alice concludes as a result of her time traveling experiences is optimistically reassuring: "All the tiny pieces added together make a life, but the pieces could always be rearranged."
Narrator Marin Ireland never disappoints and does an absolutely tremendous job as the sole narrator for this novel. Her voice inflections and character transitions were seamless.
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