The Visitors

by John Rowe Townsend

Visitors from the future complicate the lives of several inhabitants of Cambridge, England.

Genres: Fiction, Time Travel, Science Fiction

221 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

John Rowe Townsend (born 1922) is a British children's author and academic. His best-known children's novel is The Intruder, which won a 1971 Edgar Award, and his best-known academic work is Written for Children: An Outline of English Language Children's Literature (1965), the definitive work of its time on the subject.

He was born in Leeds, and studied at Leeds Grammar School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Among his popular works are Gumble's Yard (his debut novel, published in 1961), Widdershins Crescent (1965), and The Intruder (1969), which won a 1971 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Juvenile Mystery. In Britain, The Intruder was made into a children's TV series starring Milton Johns as the stranger. Noah's Castle was filmed by Southern television and transmitted in seven 25-minute episodes in 1980.

Reviews

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

One day in June in Cambridge three people just suddenly appear, those in their orbit are affected with giddiness and seemingly disappear for a short time.
And so the Wyatt family arrive, three strange travellers who accidentally get tangled up with the locals and cause a little trouble when their strange behaviour and habits attract the notice of a news reporter.
They are travellers from the future, exploring the past.
But things get messy when one falls in love abs they have a deadline to return to their own time or risk being cut off from their own people and home.
A clever, meandering tale of time travel and a great little sci if read overall.

[Monteiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entre 3 et 4, un livre sympa mais simplet mais assez charmant.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Time travel and science fiction all in one, oi vey. I clearly did not know what I was getting into when I started, and now that I do I shall not be rereading it to remember the particular things I found boring. I just remember feeling like I was muddling my way through and barely tracking what happened, plot-wise.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second favorite book by Townsend. I own a copy of this one. Good children's science fiction.

[J.M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this thinking it was "The Creatures" by the same author. Unfortunately it wasn't, and I just couldn't get into this one so I didn't finish it.