Time moves differently for each character in Alyson Richman’s historical novel The Time Keepers. For Grace Golden, an Irish immigrant married to Jewish watch store owner Tom Golden, the once hectic years of child raising have now slowed to a crawl — and she realizes her daughters may no longer need her in the same ways they used to. For Katie, the Goldens’ teenage daughter, who’s on the cusp of popularity thanks to her new lifeguarding job, time cannot move quickly enough. For Jack, a Vietnam War veteran who lives and works in the Goldens’ watch store, time mostly stands still. He’s still stuck in the moment when he decided he could not return home to his loved ones because of facial scarring he sustained in Vietnam as a result of injuries. And for Anh, a Vietnamese refugee raising her orphaned nephew alone, time finally stutters forward when Grace begins to teach her English.
Each of these individuals has a unique perspective on life, memory, and what it means to move on. As their lives become intertwined, they must recognize what they still have to give to each other and the world. To reflect the shifting landscape of their lives, Richman plays with both point of view and tense. The narrative is told mostly in close third person, but sometimes Richman switches to another character’s viewpoint mid-scene to show how two different people might have very different experiences of the same event. Similarly, the tense hops back and forth from past to present within individual chapters. A careful observer will notice how these deliberate choices clue them in to each character’s perception of forward momentum — or limited momentum — in their life.
The Goldens’ watch store is a space not only for the healing of timepieces but also of spirits, giving those broken by their pasts the space and time to put themselves back together. While many of the male characters find peace in the shop, it is notable that Anh and Grace find a similar sense of acceptance and purpose when cooking together in the Goldens’ kitchen. Grace once connected with her mother-in-law through food, and her culinary curiosity allows her to better communicate with Anh, for whom food has always been an expression of love.
The Timekeepers is a story of interconnectedness and healing. The book does not wrap up neatly; instead, the characters learn to move forward together into the messy future, even if some will always have an eye on the past. Time is marked not by the ticking of a clock, but by the minutes and hours spent together.
Y. M. Resnik is a science fiction and fantasy author whose work has appeared in such venues as Cast of Wonders, Diabolical Plots, and Worlds of Possibility among other places. You can keep up with her at ymresnik.com or Instagram.
