A Confusion of Time

by Colin Wood

Raymond is ill and lonely in his basement flat. His mother had to leave him to go to work every day, and the whole block of buildings was slowly being torn down. He didn't know how he could last through the long dreary day. Then Wally the midget showed up, with his trumpet and his dog Mullinger, and life abruptly changed for Raymond. It seemed the most natural thing in the world for Wally to pull back the screen, which was supposed to cover a cramped kitchenette, and reveal the huge bustling Victorian kitchen that once was there. And with Raymond projected back into the past of the house, the lark began. It is the period when English mill towns suffered from the Cotton Famine, because of the American Civil War and the Southern Blockade, and unemployment and suffering were widespread. Mr. Hamilton, a philanthropist mill owner who hates slavery, has opposed the building of a commerce raider for the Confederate States—the famed C.S.S. Alabama—and his enemies have kidnapped him to keep him from interfering. Young Laura Hamilton appeals for Raymond's and Wally's help in finding her father.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1975