Although I work in an academic library, we have a shelf of books near the circulation desk that are “bestsellers.” The bestseller shelf doesn’t contain enough books to encroach on the public library’s territory, but in my opinion, is a little gem because academic libraries typically aren’t known for vast collections of popular fiction. I have come across a number of interesting reads on the bestseller shelf, the latest being entitled The Little Book by Selden Edwards.
The Little Book is rather hard to describe. I have never read a book quite like it, although if I had to make comparisons of something similar it would have to be The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Like The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Little Book is about “time travel.” However, unlike the protagonist in The Time Traveler’s Wife, the protagonist in The Little Book doesn’t keep dropping in and out of time; Instead a cataclysmic event transports him from his time (1988, San Francisco) to another time (1897, Vienna).
The Little Book weaves a complex tale in which Wheeler Burden’s life story is told. The first part of the book is rather disjointed as the reader is taken back and forth between Wheeler’s initial appearance in Vienna and stories of his child and young adulthood. A variety of characters are introduced, including some historical figures, the most significant of which is Dr. Sigmund Freud. As the book progresses, the reader begins to make connections between characters and the stories of Wheeler’s youth.
As with any “time travel” book the issue of how the time traveler is intentionally or unintentionally affecting his future, the future of those he loves, and the entire future of humanity is present, but by the second half of the book the reader realizes that Wheeler’s intrusion into 1897 Vienna was actually predestined and things are unfolding exactly as they are supposed to.
I quite enjoyed this book and would suggest it to those who liked The Time Traveler’s Wife because of its “time travel” premise. In addition, because the setting of the majority of the book is fin de siècle Vienna, I would also recommend The Little Book to those who get pleasure from historical fiction.