Time Is the Oven

by Richard G. Sharp

Time is the Oven is a kind of anti-Western romp, following the adventures of a young man (a boy in Jacob’s Cellar) beginning in post-Civil War Missouri. There he meets the legendary Jesse James and is singularly unimpressed, but comes to see his older brother as a sort of mentor. Pursuing a difficult romantic relationship with a “sporting lady” aspiring to become an actress, he meets only disappointment, marries a respectable woman and seeks unsuccessfully to return to the rural life of his youth. Following a family tragedy and estrangement from his wife, he undertakes an odyssey to Panama during the failed French canal project, eventually returning, definitely older and arguably wiser, to Missouri for unanticipated reunions at the novel’s dramatic conclusion. Although in some respects a sequel to Jacob’s Cellar, the novel is a stand-alone romance inspired by Frank Jame’s love of Shakespeare, with a plot reminiscent of “A Winter’s Tale.“

268 pages, Paperback

First published December 27, 2012

About the author

Richard Sharp earned a BA from Harvard as well as a Masters Degree from Princeton, launching a career as an international development consultant before recently retiring.His vast experience across the United States and over four dozen countries provides settings for his historically authentic novel settings.

He is the author of "Crystal Ships" (2013) his sweeping epic of America's decades of discontent, the Sixties and Seventies; "The Duke Don’t Dance" (2012),a saga oh the "silent generation," and his 19th century historical novels "Jacob’s Cellar" and "Time is the Oven," tales of the domestic impact of the Civil War and its aftermath. His publications have garnered him multiple accolades, including a place on the Kirkus Best Self-Published Book list (2013), the Independent Publishers gold medal for Best Adult Fiction E-Book award (2013), and a finalist finish in the ForeWord Clarion Firsts (2012) and Reader’s Favorite (2012) categories.

Sharp is married with two adult children.
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Reviews

[Diana Donnelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to win this on Goodreads. This was enjoyable read about a young man in post Civil War Missouri. William had heard the name of Sgt Riley mentioned quite often at home. He went in search of him with hopes of being hired. It was interesting reading about the time period and I enjoyed his relationships and family ties. Jesse James was in the story and William had a slight connection with him and his brother. In fact, he was quite fond of his brother Frank. I began thinking this was a guy's type book but I honestly enjoyed it. It's nice to read a different book.

[Sean McLachlan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tale of a young Missourian coming into his own in the years following the Civil War. The book spans a couple of decades from his first wanderings as a callow youth, through various romantic relationships, his friendship with Frank James, and his ultimate success while working on the Panama Canal. Vast in scope, this is an ambitious novel told with wit and historical detail.

"Told," unfortunately, is the key word. Most of the book is narration, with little actual scene. While the narration is insightful and often funny--I even laughed out loud a couple of times, a rare thing for me to do with a book--it lends a certain distance between the reader and the plot.

This was frustrating because I could see the great book trying to break out of the constraints of the good one. The author overly explains everything, when in fact he has the skills to show us far more effectively. I hope in future volumes the author gains confidence to put us right in the scene instead of simply narrating everything.

[Elizabeth (Stuffed Shelves) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young man William from Missouri decides to do some traveling. During his journey he falls in love, loses the girl, faces tragedies, loss, change, and even sickness. The book spans through a couple of decades during the years following the Civil War, told in the narration of William.

Richard Sharp has always had a way with words. I wasn't surprised at all to find myself laughing out loud at certain parts in the book. Time is the Oven can be read as a stand alone, but it certainly helped that I read his previous book Jacob's Cellar, I can see how the two books compliment one another.

There is a lot contained in this book that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I say keep them coming Richard Sharp. Another 5/5 book in my opinion.

[Betsy Hover · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was delighted to receive this book as a Goodreads Giveaway!
This book captivated the character growth and changes thru life experience of the main character, “William Ebhart”. This is historical novel follows a 19th-century man as he spends decades searching for the meaning of life, love story with twist/turns to be a true Shakespearean drama. This was a fantastic read.

[Tom Pintong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me a while to read, through no real fault of the author. I started the book right around when my niece was born, and it got put to the side while celebrations and child rearing took place, and got buried under a ton of stuff. Once I rediscovered it, I got through it in 2 evenings.

The story takes place in the American Midwest, starting in the time of Reconstruction and extending itself to about the 20th century. It centers around William Ebhart, a young man looking to make his way in the world, but having to deal with the effects of having his father fight for the Confederacy during the Civil War. He meets a beautiful girl named Lenore, who is much more experienced in the world than he is. They end up seperating and meeting again over the course of years, as both try to make a life for themselves. With the weaving in of the Frank and Jesse James into the tale, life gets a bit hectic for William at times.

The story starts off a little slow, but it really does pick up, and by the end of the book, I was racing through it, wanting to know what would happen next. Mr. Sharp does a good job of keeping the reader invested in what will become of William, as well as the other people who come in and out of his life. This is the second book I have read of his, and I am not disappointed in giving his writing another go. Rating-wise, I might have veered more in the 3.5 star range, but the book definitely deserved more than a 3 for me. The author sent me the book, along with its prequel after I had written a nice review of his other work, which does help steer the rating to a more positive one. Now if I can only find where I put the prequel, Jacob's Cellar...

[Tom C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across "Time is the Oven" while browsing the Goodreads Giveways and as both a history nut and a Civil War buff I instantly gravitated towards its period setting, post-Civil War reconstruction.

For me, things started off pretty promising with an interesting setting and pretty solid character development, I breezed through the first half of the book and was feeling really good about what was to come...but, in my opinion, the second half dragged a bit. I found it to be a bit wordy and struggled at times to stay focused. ...I understand how difficult life was in those days, but found the story to get a overly depressing as well, constantly waiting for something uplifting. It did finally come, but that portion of the story wrapped up very quickly, and I found myself wanting more of that part of the tale. The storyline also frequently whisks you through very large portions of time and does so without much detail of what had occurred in between.

I felt this novel was going towards a solid 4 stars until the second half of the read...for me, the pace of time picked up dramatically at that point while the character development concurrently slowed. The characters were great (especially the grandparents), the settings for the most part were very interesting, I just found the story itself to be a bit tedious at times. Overall this is a solid read, but certainly not for everyone.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received a copy of this book from the Author.

Time is The Oven is about a young man (William) who decides to leave home and make his mark on the world. Along the way, William falls in love with "sporting lady", joins Lenore's( the sporting lady) traveling medicine show, helps The James brothers rob a bank, loses the girl, marries a "nice girl" and begins a family. This is only the beginning. We watch as his life unfolds. Things don't always go his way and we watch as he deals with tragedy, loss, change, and sickness. I wont give away any more of the story, but I will say I enjoyed this book just as much as I enoyed Jacob's celler. I really enjoyed how he utilized real life historical figures and events in the storytelling. We see Jesse and Frank James many times throughout the book. The reader learns about yellow fever, and France's attempt at building the Panama Canal. It was also nice to see characters from Jacob's celler in this book as well. The story unravels nicely and there is not a dull moment.

[Eileen M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Sharp's novel, Time Is The Oven, is my favorite of his works. There is a cinematic quality to the continuation of the protagonist William's travails which began in the earlier book, Jacob's Cellar. Time is the Oven can stand alone--it chronicles Williams adventures as a man. I can visualize his interactions with the colorful characters including Lenore and especially the James brothers. I can picture the settings of the story, both exotic and quotidian, from the medicine show and the Panama Canal scenes to the old homestead. All the characters are expertly fleshed out. It's got it all--romance, adventure, humor. Time is the Oven would make a great movie.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to win the goodreads giveaway for this book. I definitely have to say that I enjoyed this book. Although for the first chapter, for whatever reason, I had a hard time getting into it. But as soon as I read it and kept continuing on I started to really enjoy the book. In this book William grows from a boy to a man during post civil war. This book is inspiring because even during the hard times William worked hard and made something out of himself.

To read more of my review visit apotpourrioflife.wordpress.com

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from goodreads and really enjoyed. The characters were well defined and you really got to know them and also their background and why they did the things they did. This book kept my interest and I could not put it down. It was very well written and cohesive. Also I enjoyed the history of the civil war, yellow fever , the James brothers and the attempt to build the panama canal. Great book! The book is called time is the oven by Richard Sharp.

[Colleen Mertens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another book I won on Goodreads. It was a historical fiction set in post Civil War Missouri. It was something of a coming of age story. It has interesting characters and some plot twists that might surprise many people. It definitely made me want to read Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale". Good story. I look forward to reading another book I have by this same author.