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My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time
A thrillingly imagined rollercoaster of a novel bursting with sex, time travel, and true love.
Charlotte Schleswig, the delightful narrator of Liz Jensen's latest novel, supports herself and the lumpen Fru Schleswig (who may or may not be her mother) as a prostitute in 1890s Copenhagen. While she is no small success at the trade, she leaps at a new job opportunity for herself and Fru Schleswig, as cleaning ladies for the wealthy widow Krak. But mysteries abound at Fru Krak's dark old mansion. The basement appears to be haunted, townspeople claim to have seen the dead Professor Krak walking the streets as a ghost, and there are stories of desperate souls who paid the professor a visit and never emerged. In fact, as Charlotte will discover, there is a simple explanation for all this: the basement is home to a time machine. When their cunning investigations land them in trouble, Charlotte and Fru Schleswig find themselves catapulted through time and space to modern-day London, and there their adventures truly begin.
With the minxy, intrepid Charlotte, Liz Jensen introduces a heroine every bit as memorable as Louis Drax. And with My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time, she delivers yet another outlandishly entertaining novel, in which the seemingly insurmountable obstacle of spacetime proves no match for human ingenuity and earthly passion.
Charlotte Schleswig, the delightful narrator of Liz Jensen's latest novel, supports herself and the lumpen Fru Schleswig (who may or may not be her mother) as a prostitute in 1890s Copenhagen. While she is no small success at the trade, she leaps at a new job opportunity for herself and Fru Schleswig, as cleaning ladies for the wealthy widow Krak. But mysteries abound at Fru Krak's dark old mansion. The basement appears to be haunted, townspeople claim to have seen the dead Professor Krak walking the streets as a ghost, and there are stories of desperate souls who paid the professor a visit and never emerged. In fact, as Charlotte will discover, there is a simple explanation for all this: the basement is home to a time machine. When their cunning investigations land them in trouble, Charlotte and Fru Schleswig find themselves catapulted through time and space to modern-day London, and there their adventures truly begin.
With the minxy, intrepid Charlotte, Liz Jensen introduces a heroine every bit as memorable as Louis Drax. And with My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time, she delivers yet another outlandishly entertaining novel, in which the seemingly insurmountable obstacle of spacetime proves no match for human ingenuity and earthly passion.
305 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
17 people are currently reading
832 people want to read
About the author
Liz Jensen
25 books226 followersLiz Jensen was born in Oxfordshire, the daughter of a Danish father and an Anglo-Moroccan mother. She spent two years as a journalist in the Far East before joining the BBC, first as a journalist, then as a TV and radio producer. She then moved to France where she worked as a sculptor began her first novel, Egg Dancing, which was published in 1995. Back in London she wrote Ark Baby (1998) which was shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Award, The Paper Eater (2000), and War Crimes for the Home (2002) which was longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction. She has two children and shares her life with the Danish essayist, travel writer and novelist Carsten Jensen.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 135 reviews
October 4, 2020
There are times where I find myself in possession of a book I would not have thought I would usually have read let alone picked up and added to the shelf. Now this is no dismissal of an author or a genre (as you all are aware there are so many books that have been published its so easy just to miss or over look something let alone all the new ones being added) - however when I do discover them I try and read them.
My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time is a perfect example and I have to admit I really enjoyed it- yes the language used at times slowed me down and the regular referencing back to the reader (as if the book really was a personal journal) does get a little frustrating at times however the story is fun and thoughtful.
In the scheme of things I would not say that the mechanics of the story are anything new - however the style of the story especially from the narrators view point put a fresh and fun perspective on things which if anything places a different light on things and allows you to see them as something new.
I will admit that this would not have been a book I would have intentionally gone out and bought however now I have read it I really enjoyed it and yes it has given me a little boost in trying something new.
My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time is a perfect example and I have to admit I really enjoyed it- yes the language used at times slowed me down and the regular referencing back to the reader (as if the book really was a personal journal) does get a little frustrating at times however the story is fun and thoughtful.
In the scheme of things I would not say that the mechanics of the story are anything new - however the style of the story especially from the narrators view point put a fresh and fun perspective on things which if anything places a different light on things and allows you to see them as something new.
I will admit that this would not have been a book I would have intentionally gone out and bought however now I have read it I really enjoyed it and yes it has given me a little boost in trying something new.
November 11, 2007
This book is a cheerful, verbally inventive time-traveling romp - Moll Flanders with a side of Jules Verne. It has a more sentimental ending than Moll Flanders, but no one can complain about this - you're not exactly reading it for the gritty realism.
Those looking for a realistic treatment of prostitution, poverty, binge drinking, or period language, or those who can't deal with gratuitous ampersand use, should stay away. Those looking for the most flattering and amoral of unreliable narrators should sign up at once.
Those looking for a realistic treatment of prostitution, poverty, binge drinking, or period language, or those who can't deal with gratuitous ampersand use, should stay away. Those looking for the most flattering and amoral of unreliable narrators should sign up at once.
December 3, 2007
Unapologetic prostitute Charlotte, who makes her living in nineteenth century Copenhagen, discovers a time machine in her employer’s cellar and is catapulted into modern-day New York. There she meets an odd band of fellow ex-pats and also the love of her life. Alas, time travel is a tricksy thing…Told in a pert, unabashed style that I adored, this is a slightly romantic romp through time and space.
March 25, 2016
3.5 stars...A refreshingly different viewpoint. Totally entertaining!
May 4, 2022
Kurzbeschreibung
Kopenhagen 1898: Charlotte, ein hübsches, leichtlebiges Mädchen, lebt zusammen mit Frau Schleswig, die behauptet, ihre Mutter zu sein. Sie verdingen sich bei Frau Krak, einer reichen Witwe, deren großes Haus sie sauber & in Stand halten sollen. Dabei entdeckt Charlotte einen mysteriöse Raum im Keller, wo sie auf den angeblich verstorbenen Professor Krak trifft, der eine Zeitmaschine gebaut hat. Mit seiner Hilfe landet Charlotte plötzlich im London des 21. Jahrhunderts. Aberwitzige Abenteuer und mehrmalige Zeitreisen müssen bestanden werden, bis Charlotte endlich in die Arme ihres schottischen Geliebten Fergus sinken kann.
Kurzmeinung / Leseerlebnis
In dem gesamten Buch kommt das Wort "und" nicht vor. Es ist stets durch das kaufmännische "&" ersetzt. Das irritiert anfangs beim Lesen. Mit der Zeit gewöhnt man sich aber daran. Gelegentlich wird der Leser/die Leserin direkt angesprochen. Das ist nicht jedermanns Sache. Ich mag es & es kam auch nicht zu oft vor. Außerdem ist die Erzählerin sehr freundlich & schmeichelhaft; Eigenschaften, die ihr als Dirne zugute kamen. Ich mochte sie sehr.
Insgesamt habe ich dieses Buch trotz oder vielleicht wegen seiner Einfachheit sehr gerne gelesen. Eine leichte & unterhaltsame Lektüre, bei der es fast schade ist, dass es keine Fortsetzung gibt.
Kopenhagen 1898: Charlotte, ein hübsches, leichtlebiges Mädchen, lebt zusammen mit Frau Schleswig, die behauptet, ihre Mutter zu sein. Sie verdingen sich bei Frau Krak, einer reichen Witwe, deren großes Haus sie sauber & in Stand halten sollen. Dabei entdeckt Charlotte einen mysteriöse Raum im Keller, wo sie auf den angeblich verstorbenen Professor Krak trifft, der eine Zeitmaschine gebaut hat. Mit seiner Hilfe landet Charlotte plötzlich im London des 21. Jahrhunderts. Aberwitzige Abenteuer und mehrmalige Zeitreisen müssen bestanden werden, bis Charlotte endlich in die Arme ihres schottischen Geliebten Fergus sinken kann.
Kurzmeinung / Leseerlebnis
In dem gesamten Buch kommt das Wort "und" nicht vor. Es ist stets durch das kaufmännische "&" ersetzt. Das irritiert anfangs beim Lesen. Mit der Zeit gewöhnt man sich aber daran. Gelegentlich wird der Leser/die Leserin direkt angesprochen. Das ist nicht jedermanns Sache. Ich mag es & es kam auch nicht zu oft vor. Außerdem ist die Erzählerin sehr freundlich & schmeichelhaft; Eigenschaften, die ihr als Dirne zugute kamen. Ich mochte sie sehr.
Insgesamt habe ich dieses Buch trotz oder vielleicht wegen seiner Einfachheit sehr gerne gelesen. Eine leichte & unterhaltsame Lektüre, bei der es fast schade ist, dass es keine Fortsetzung gibt.
October 28, 2013
A friend at work asked me how I rated books. I came up with 1-actively hated, 2-actively disliked, 3-wasn't active about anything, 4-actively liked, and 5-actively loved. The active was the main thing. I've read plenty of books that never got me to the "active" part. I was fine with it. But when I'm actively muttering under my breath to the book "if I could, I would take a bat to your literary nethers..." -- that's some active dislike there.
I actively disliked this book.
I disliked it from the first five pages. But it was there and I have 75 books to read. Plus it is a library book so the longer I keep it out, the fewer people can read it. What can I say--I'm a giver. I hated the main character Charlotte, who did that whole "dear reader" shtick. Add to it, she told me a few times that I looked lovely. This was over the top shtick. She also used ampersands in the type. Yes, I know this is petty. But it's like when you really start hating someone, and you try to vocalize the reasons, the first one is something stupid and petty, like "she wore a backpack purse to a wedding" or something like that. Nothing really offensive, but something that was the huge grain of sand in your undies.
The tale was annoying. I couldn't imagine why Charlotte's love interest would like her, much less want to marry her. I'm all for the prostitute with the heart of gold, but most of us agree that Richard Gere's and Julia Roberts' characters broke up by the next summer.
And the "dear reader" crud. It went on and on and on and on and on. Charlotte was a big whiner, I hated everything about her, and I really hoped she would be lost in time. She was mean to everyone, manipulative, and unsympathetic to the point that when she ended up "happily ever after" I muttered a "dang"
My dislike never veered into hatred, and I admit there were times when I didn't hate everything about the book, thus the second star. But if you're not trying to read 75 books in a year, I'm sure there are better ones out there.
I actively disliked this book.
I disliked it from the first five pages. But it was there and I have 75 books to read. Plus it is a library book so the longer I keep it out, the fewer people can read it. What can I say--I'm a giver. I hated the main character Charlotte, who did that whole "dear reader" shtick. Add to it, she told me a few times that I looked lovely. This was over the top shtick. She also used ampersands in the type. Yes, I know this is petty. But it's like when you really start hating someone, and you try to vocalize the reasons, the first one is something stupid and petty, like "she wore a backpack purse to a wedding" or something like that. Nothing really offensive, but something that was the huge grain of sand in your undies.
The tale was annoying. I couldn't imagine why Charlotte's love interest would like her, much less want to marry her. I'm all for the prostitute with the heart of gold, but most of us agree that Richard Gere's and Julia Roberts' characters broke up by the next summer.
And the "dear reader" crud. It went on and on and on and on and on. Charlotte was a big whiner, I hated everything about her, and I really hoped she would be lost in time. She was mean to everyone, manipulative, and unsympathetic to the point that when she ended up "happily ever after" I muttered a "dang"
My dislike never veered into hatred, and I admit there were times when I didn't hate everything about the book, thus the second star. But if you're not trying to read 75 books in a year, I'm sure there are better ones out there.
March 31, 2010
This is the first time I read a book from this author and I have to admit the cover and title lured me in. It was catchy and it made me pick up the book and read the summary, after having done so I was sold. Time travelling always appealed to me and whoever wrote the summary in the flap did a really good job. It suggested mystery, adventure, and fantasy.
I started to read the first few chapters and the initial pull didn't last that long. The writing was just OK, the author used the first person point of view effectively. Charlotte was a prostitute barely making ends meet until she gets a decent job for Fru Schleswig as a house keeper.
Charlotte's character was admirable in the sense of being strong. She's also clever and extremely curious until she stumbled upon events which led us to her time-travelling adventures. I was a little disoriented when I was reading this because I didn't realize that the time frame was 1800's. It's rare to time-travel from the past to the future so I give this book credit for being unconventional. The time travelling stories I usually read are based on present travelling to the past.
The plot was OK, there's the climax, man vs man and man vs machine conflict, and from the tone of her writing I new there would be a happy ending. I wasn't exactly disappointed, but I just didn't enjoy it as I expected to.
I started to read the first few chapters and the initial pull didn't last that long. The writing was just OK, the author used the first person point of view effectively. Charlotte was a prostitute barely making ends meet until she gets a decent job for Fru Schleswig as a house keeper.
Charlotte's character was admirable in the sense of being strong. She's also clever and extremely curious until she stumbled upon events which led us to her time-travelling adventures. I was a little disoriented when I was reading this because I didn't realize that the time frame was 1800's. It's rare to time-travel from the past to the future so I give this book credit for being unconventional. The time travelling stories I usually read are based on present travelling to the past.
The plot was OK, there's the climax, man vs man and man vs machine conflict, and from the tone of her writing I new there would be a happy ending. I wasn't exactly disappointed, but I just didn't enjoy it as I expected to.
September 16, 2021
Found during my travel in a palace-hotel, this book kept me hooked for some time, and then made me want to finish it before check-out. Since that wasn't feasible, I now own a kindle copy of the book. Very hygge-ish, time travel book, which made me smile, and lightened the life-load a bit.
April 14, 2016
An amusing & whimsical romp through time.
October 31, 2012
Charlotte Shleswig is a precocious young prostitute living in the Osterbro neighborhood of Copenhagen in 1890. She has been raised in a orphanage and has given herself an idiosyncratic eduction by reading every mouldering book she finds in the orphanage basement. Her reading has provided a useful fund of knowledge to accompany her considerable street smarts. It has also lent her a literary style that can be arch or wickedly funny. She tells her adventures with a voice that evokes Nicholas Nickleby coauthored by Moll Flanders with the occasional foray into Fanny Hill.
And she does have adventures. She solves the mystery buried in the basement of her employer, the hideous Fru Krak. She travels through time, winding up in 21st century London. She finds true love with a Scottish archeologist. She works out a scheme to protect the time traveling device by watching a single episode of Scooby Doo her fist day in a London high-rise apartment.
She is great fun, but I have to admit she began to wear on me about halfway through the novel. The prose can be laugh-out-loud funny, but relentless cleverness can only hold my attention so far. There is a large and lively cast of characters but I cared about them about as much as I cared about the characters on Lost, meaning that however entertaining I found them I was not at all concerned about what fate might befall them. A grisly death would be just as satisfying as seeing things work out well. And it is clear from pretty early on in Jensen's novel that what we have here is a fairy tale of the happy-ever-after variety.
I found this book listed in Damien Broderick's and Paul di Filippo's 101 Best Science Fiction Novels, 1985 - 2010. SF fans are not likely to take much a shine to it. I suppose the time travel aspect makes if science fiction, but it is pure fantasy. The workings of Prof. Krak's time machine have more in common with Peter Pan's flying instructions to Wendy than to any even half-hearted effort at considering the science involved.
And she does have adventures. She solves the mystery buried in the basement of her employer, the hideous Fru Krak. She travels through time, winding up in 21st century London. She finds true love with a Scottish archeologist. She works out a scheme to protect the time traveling device by watching a single episode of Scooby Doo her fist day in a London high-rise apartment.
She is great fun, but I have to admit she began to wear on me about halfway through the novel. The prose can be laugh-out-loud funny, but relentless cleverness can only hold my attention so far. There is a large and lively cast of characters but I cared about them about as much as I cared about the characters on Lost, meaning that however entertaining I found them I was not at all concerned about what fate might befall them. A grisly death would be just as satisfying as seeing things work out well. And it is clear from pretty early on in Jensen's novel that what we have here is a fairy tale of the happy-ever-after variety.
I found this book listed in Damien Broderick's and Paul di Filippo's 101 Best Science Fiction Novels, 1985 - 2010. SF fans are not likely to take much a shine to it. I suppose the time travel aspect makes if science fiction, but it is pure fantasy. The workings of Prof. Krak's time machine have more in common with Peter Pan's flying instructions to Wendy than to any even half-hearted effort at considering the science involved.
October 23, 2022
Wonderful recreation of the classic narrator - in the 21st century! Twain would be proud.
Oh this was so good. I just melted into the narration, it was genres and themes I love - historical fiction, contemporary humor, time travel, a good dash of sexy fun.
In the storytelling style of Defoe or Cleland, and like their well known protagonists Moll and Fanny, Charlotte is a 1890s young woman who unapologetically sells her body to get by. Copenhagen in 1897 could be lucrative for someone smart, and Lottie has dreams, despite being almost starving and hampered by a leech-like mother figure she can't shake off.
Managing to finagle their way into a wealthy household as staff, Lottie and Fru Schleswig without planning to manage to transport themselves to 21st-century London. To a world of strange communication devices, unfathomable clothes and unknown foods. Though there are still men with the same needs surely, so maybe Lottie can manage to hook herself someone rich and secure herself a future?
A real attention-grabber, the book gives a 19th century worldview on modern-day London, and never loses that as Lottie experiences a new time period, the start of her own potential romance, time travel dilemmas and suspense. Throughout it all, she talks to us, her dear reader (flatterer). We don't know where she'll end up, but like Fanny Hill, we are rooting for the little minx. Lottie is thoroughly likeable, she has a way with words, quoting authors and references old and new, it's anachronistic but also telling, it's charming. The sex talk is never quite graphic but is present, I found this as bawdy as Tom Jones or Fanny Hill.
With a cast of memorable characters, I would love to see this as a mini-series - best of both worlds with the period costumes but modern sensibilities. Pretty please, BBC!
Loved it.
Oh this was so good. I just melted into the narration, it was genres and themes I love - historical fiction, contemporary humor, time travel, a good dash of sexy fun.
In the storytelling style of Defoe or Cleland, and like their well known protagonists Moll and Fanny, Charlotte is a 1890s young woman who unapologetically sells her body to get by. Copenhagen in 1897 could be lucrative for someone smart, and Lottie has dreams, despite being almost starving and hampered by a leech-like mother figure she can't shake off.
Managing to finagle their way into a wealthy household as staff, Lottie and Fru Schleswig without planning to manage to transport themselves to 21st-century London. To a world of strange communication devices, unfathomable clothes and unknown foods. Though there are still men with the same needs surely, so maybe Lottie can manage to hook herself someone rich and secure herself a future?
A real attention-grabber, the book gives a 19th century worldview on modern-day London, and never loses that as Lottie experiences a new time period, the start of her own potential romance, time travel dilemmas and suspense. Throughout it all, she talks to us, her dear reader (flatterer). We don't know where she'll end up, but like Fanny Hill, we are rooting for the little minx. Lottie is thoroughly likeable, she has a way with words, quoting authors and references old and new, it's anachronistic but also telling, it's charming. The sex talk is never quite graphic but is present, I found this as bawdy as Tom Jones or Fanny Hill.
With a cast of memorable characters, I would love to see this as a mini-series - best of both worlds with the period costumes but modern sensibilities. Pretty please, BBC!
Loved it.
February 1, 2019
A cheerful, young, exuberant prostitute from Copenhagen, circa 1897, finds a time machine in the basement of an old house which spirits her to modern-day London.
I bought this book after I saw it on a list of the 100 best science fiction books of the last 25 years. I had never heard of it, but it certainly features one of the most unique language experiments I have come across since A Clockwork Orange. It is written in the style and tone of a Victorian novel. There is more than one Dickensian touch -- black-and-white sketch illustrations; overuse of ampersands; and syrupy sentences such as "The following week was Paradise. For what, pray, is bliss, but living in harmony with those you love, & having the time to kiss & hug them all you can?"
It is part romantic farce, part steampunk adventure, with a touch of Gothic horror: Charles Dickens meets Jules Verne with just a dash of Edgar Allan Poe. Once Charlotte and her companions begin traversing time back and forth, the author has the opportunity to explore changes in attitudes over time towards sex, technology, and gender roles.
This is a light, fun novel recommended to anyone who enjoys classic literature as well as time travel tales.
I bought this book after I saw it on a list of the 100 best science fiction books of the last 25 years. I had never heard of it, but it certainly features one of the most unique language experiments I have come across since A Clockwork Orange. It is written in the style and tone of a Victorian novel. There is more than one Dickensian touch -- black-and-white sketch illustrations; overuse of ampersands; and syrupy sentences such as "The following week was Paradise. For what, pray, is bliss, but living in harmony with those you love, & having the time to kiss & hug them all you can?"
It is part romantic farce, part steampunk adventure, with a touch of Gothic horror: Charles Dickens meets Jules Verne with just a dash of Edgar Allan Poe. Once Charlotte and her companions begin traversing time back and forth, the author has the opportunity to explore changes in attitudes over time towards sex, technology, and gender roles.
This is a light, fun novel recommended to anyone who enjoys classic literature as well as time travel tales.
February 16, 2010
Liz Jensen has quite an imagination. I never would have thought, "I think my narrator will be a Danish Victorian prostitute who stumbles upon a time machine that takes her to the present, only not present-day Copenhagen, but present-day London." But it works. The narrator likes to talk to the reader a lot, which made me think that the relationship would be explained, but sadly she didn't quite go there.
January 4, 2023
This is a cheerfully-bawdy romantic time-travel fantasy, set in 19th-century Copenhagen and 21st-century London. The time-travel device (in both senses) is cartoonish (but fun). Jensen writes well and has done her homework. The protagonist is a hooker with a heart of gold (OK, gilt), which shows once again that a good writer can recycle the hoariest cliche into Good Stuff. Fluff, but *good* fluff.
December 10, 2013
I'm not sure what this book was trying to be,I don't think the book knew either...science fiction, comedy, romance, thriller...whatever the mishmash didn't work too well for me.
I want overly keen on our tart with a heart narrator either, who fell in love with first person she met almost.
Too many unusual characters, none of them with any depth I thought.....
Ok at best.
I want overly keen on our tart with a heart narrator either, who fell in love with first person she met almost.
Too many unusual characters, none of them with any depth I thought.....
Ok at best.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 7, 2018
“A mystery enshrouded in an enigma, in turn wrapped deeply up in preposterousness and danger!” That pretty much sums it up. Part Doctor Who, part reverse Outlander, part Sex and the City, all ridiculous and amusing.
July 15, 2013
This was the catchy song on the radio that I hummed for half an hour after I heard it. It didn't get stuck in my head all day long, but it was pleasant and I enjoyed it.
Read
October 15, 2021Not for me. I forced myself to get almost halfway through it. I can see why people would like it; the language usage is quirky and at times the book is hilarious. But it just didn't do it for me.
January 15, 2018
It seems that I find Liz Jensen's novels rather hit and miss for my personal taste. Whilst I adore The Ninth Life of Louis Drax, I recently abandoned The Paper Eaters, and did not much enjoy My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time either. This historical novel takes place in fin-de-siecle Copenhagen, and follows a very articulate prostitute named Charlotte, and her rather crude companion, Fru Schleswig. The house which they begin to clean in order to make some money during the harsh winter of 1897 contains a locked room which holds a time machine; both women somehow fall, quite by accident, inside, and find themselves transported to present-day London, where they meet its inventor.
I am not the biggest fan of time-travel, and if I am to suspend my disbelief at all, it has to be done well. I did not feel as though it was approached with enough emphasis here; the process of travelling from one time period to another was glossed over somewhat, and the narrative simply seemed to propel Charlotte and Fru Schleswig into London with very little explanation. The speech which the inventor gave about his machine was quite dull and stodgy, and gave little clarity.
With regard to Charlotte, I did not connect with her at all as a character. She was incredibly precocious, which I found surprising for someone brought up as an orphan in the Victorian era, with no formal education to speak of. Her narrative voice, which carries the story, did not have enough fluidity to it, and the sentences were sometimes unnecessarily long and too complicated to suit the story. For instance, she might begin to speak about something articulate and quite interesting, and then start talking about sexual experiences in the same sentence, with crude language. Charlotte did not meld together that well in my opinion; there were too many conflicting character traits for her to appear as a believable being. Another flaw of the novel in my opinion is that all of the characters are extremely flawed; they are stuffed to the brim with eccentricities and peculiarities, and as a cast, there is too much which alienates them from the reader.
I feel rather conflicted over My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time. Its storyline did intrigue me, and it certainly pulled me in when I began to read, but I felt as though it was trying to do too many things at once. Whilst the core idea was an interesting one, Jensen surprised me by not seeming to handle it as effectively as she does with her core plotlines and twists in her other work. My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time was a little too muddled for my particular taste, and it does become rather too silly as it moves along.
I am not the biggest fan of time-travel, and if I am to suspend my disbelief at all, it has to be done well. I did not feel as though it was approached with enough emphasis here; the process of travelling from one time period to another was glossed over somewhat, and the narrative simply seemed to propel Charlotte and Fru Schleswig into London with very little explanation. The speech which the inventor gave about his machine was quite dull and stodgy, and gave little clarity.
With regard to Charlotte, I did not connect with her at all as a character. She was incredibly precocious, which I found surprising for someone brought up as an orphan in the Victorian era, with no formal education to speak of. Her narrative voice, which carries the story, did not have enough fluidity to it, and the sentences were sometimes unnecessarily long and too complicated to suit the story. For instance, she might begin to speak about something articulate and quite interesting, and then start talking about sexual experiences in the same sentence, with crude language. Charlotte did not meld together that well in my opinion; there were too many conflicting character traits for her to appear as a believable being. Another flaw of the novel in my opinion is that all of the characters are extremely flawed; they are stuffed to the brim with eccentricities and peculiarities, and as a cast, there is too much which alienates them from the reader.
I feel rather conflicted over My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time. Its storyline did intrigue me, and it certainly pulled me in when I began to read, but I felt as though it was trying to do too many things at once. Whilst the core idea was an interesting one, Jensen surprised me by not seeming to handle it as effectively as she does with her core plotlines and twists in her other work. My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time was a little too muddled for my particular taste, and it does become rather too silly as it moves along.
January 21, 2018
It is 1870 and our irrepressible heroine, Charlotte Dagmar Marie of Osterbro, orphan, former chorus girl, and harlot turned housekeeper, together with the gluttonous Fru Schleswig, discover a Time Machine in an abandoned basement in the Krak mansion. This takes the two in 20th century London, where our heroine meets a group of Danish time travellers and where she discovers the wonders of the Modern Age including microwave, television and avocado-flavored condoms. Despite this, she longs to go back to her dear Copenhagen, and was set to do so when she falls in love. And so to chaos as her Beloved and his darling daughter insist to go along with her. What a fun, fluffy read. Would definitely be reading other Liz Jensen's books.
November 16, 2018
A melodrama, with time travel as a bonus.
If you don't know the elements of melodramas--or they are only known from a childhood cartoon about Dudley DoRight, before reading this novel you may wish to familiarize yourself with the old form, in whatever manner is convenient. My bits and pieces--maybe you have these around--come from:
--'Casey at the Bat' on the Ken Burns baseball documentary
--A bit in the flashback section of Godfather II where Vito attends the theater
--Somewhere in my Grieg complete piano works there's some vocal accompaniment that is in the style
--Young Wagner wrote a 'melodram' that I have on an Isabella Fratii 'homage' to his songs
--The ending speech of the muse of drunkenness--as I call her--in Offenbach's Contes d'Hoffmann.
If you don't know the elements of melodramas--or they are only known from a childhood cartoon about Dudley DoRight, before reading this novel you may wish to familiarize yourself with the old form, in whatever manner is convenient. My bits and pieces--maybe you have these around--come from:
--'Casey at the Bat' on the Ken Burns baseball documentary
--A bit in the flashback section of Godfather II where Vito attends the theater
--Somewhere in my Grieg complete piano works there's some vocal accompaniment that is in the style
--Young Wagner wrote a 'melodram' that I have on an Isabella Fratii 'homage' to his songs
--The ending speech of the muse of drunkenness--as I call her--in Offenbach's Contes d'Hoffmann.
May 31, 2020
Well this was a strange and unexpected find, a story that starts out with a sex worker in 1890s Denmark, telling her life story in a very peculiar narrative voice full of ampersands and exclamations, and then goes radically elsewhere. It took me a while to get into the swing of that voice, but once I did, and got used to the protagonist's discursive way of storytelling, this started to remind me a lot of Sarah Waters' Fingersmith and The Paying Guests, both in its level of period detail and in its skill at characterization. And then it goes off in some wild directions that fit perfectly with all the foreshadowing, but still just couldn't be predicted. Pretty strange, compulsively readable, and pretty delightful.
February 5, 2021
I can't resist a story featuring time travel, that was the only reason I gave this one a try to be honest.
Entertaining enough tale, but its hard to accurately describe the tone of it. Feels like a children's book for adults ... lots of stereotypical characters, slightly weird humour, unlikely events, and forced happy ending.
This would have been better as a physical book rather than audiobook, as the narrators accents were bizarre and rather distracting to be honest. The Danish characters mostly spoke in various exaggerated English regional accents.
Having said that it was a fun tale - the idea of a 19th century prostitute from Copenhagen coping with hi tech life in 21st century London was certainly original!!
Entertaining enough tale, but its hard to accurately describe the tone of it. Feels like a children's book for adults ... lots of stereotypical characters, slightly weird humour, unlikely events, and forced happy ending.
This would have been better as a physical book rather than audiobook, as the narrators accents were bizarre and rather distracting to be honest. The Danish characters mostly spoke in various exaggerated English regional accents.
Having said that it was a fun tale - the idea of a 19th century prostitute from Copenhagen coping with hi tech life in 21st century London was certainly original!!
June 26, 2020
An entertaining, time travelling, fast paced romp of a story, largely set in 1890s Denmark and modern day London. Told from the point of view of Charlotte, an orphaned Danish prostitute, who regularly addresses the reader directly. There's a light smattering of Danish words throughout the text which I often found myself looking up. I think it was worth my time to do so, as it really helped to build the picture of what Charlotte was experiencing and the food they were indulging in.
A unique story that crosses genres, Liz Jensen has quite the imagination. I will definitely try reading some more of her books.
A unique story that crosses genres, Liz Jensen has quite the imagination. I will definitely try reading some more of her books.
April 6, 2020
My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time is a little gem in term of the enjoyment I extracted from it. The story in itself is a little bit of fluff (a cross between science fiction and fairy tales) where time travels, and love, and rose-tinted glasses, and Danish Higge, and extraordinary situations blend so well together. A delightful little rollercoaster.
What really gives the story its drive is the writing. It is such a blend of high energy, subtle and not so subtle humour, and a cross-over of old fashion writing style within a more modern context. The writing style also reflects very well the protagonist's mind, juggling several thoughts at times.
The two main voices of the book are like cheese and chalk. The heroin herself (Charlotte) is modelled on Jane Austen's Emma, one who knows much of other people's heart but little of her own and her mother, by comparison, is a "vacuum-cleaner waving" lump (to use one of the book's expression) who follows her daughter blindly in all sorts of crazy scenarios. A kind of Danish female Laurel and Hardy duo.
I am writing this in time of the Coronavirus Pandemic, and for those of you who might be stuck indoors, as we are in those wretched times, this is the perfect book for enforced containment.
What really gives the story its drive is the writing. It is such a blend of high energy, subtle and not so subtle humour, and a cross-over of old fashion writing style within a more modern context. The writing style also reflects very well the protagonist's mind, juggling several thoughts at times.
The two main voices of the book are like cheese and chalk. The heroin herself (Charlotte) is modelled on Jane Austen's Emma, one who knows much of other people's heart but little of her own and her mother, by comparison, is a "vacuum-cleaner waving" lump (to use one of the book's expression) who follows her daughter blindly in all sorts of crazy scenarios. A kind of Danish female Laurel and Hardy duo.
I am writing this in time of the Coronavirus Pandemic, and for those of you who might be stuck indoors, as we are in those wretched times, this is the perfect book for enforced containment.
July 2, 2018
An easy fun read. I enjoyed the personal conversation the author engaged with you - dearest reader - and enjoyed the adventures of the characters. The story was light and funny with many laugh out loud moments. I particularly enjoyed the description of the different ages the character finds herself in, down to the finest details that you wouldn't even think of unless you were experiencing these moments yourself - quite clever.
July 11, 2019
I loathed this book. It is narrarated by the world's most verbose prostitute, which by itself is supposed to be hilarious even though the character is grating. It has nothing to say, nor any interesting twists on the time travel story. I had been meaning to pick up something by Jensen for a long time. Maybe this won't be the last, but not a great start.
January 14, 2022
4.5⭐️
Such a fantastical, crass, witty and absurd book! After I got past the first few chapters of “what the heck am I reading?!” I fell head over heels for the main character and her hilarious unwanted sidekick. This is one of those books that has a bit of everything, and manages to be laugh-out-loud funny at regular intervals. Can’t wait to share with others!
Such a fantastical, crass, witty and absurd book! After I got past the first few chapters of “what the heck am I reading?!” I fell head over heels for the main character and her hilarious unwanted sidekick. This is one of those books that has a bit of everything, and manages to be laugh-out-loud funny at regular intervals. Can’t wait to share with others!
December 26, 2022
From the blurb I had so much going on in my head. I knew where I wanted the story to go, the possibility was there to make something magical and it fell flat. I think if I'd just read the book without knowing what it was about I'd give a different score. But I'd half written a book in my head before I'd opened the book
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