Out of Time, Into Love

by Jean Marzollo

Fifteen-year-old Kate finds herself transported back in time to 1850 in her Massachusetts town, where she must adjust to the prejudices against Irish immigrants, working long hours in a cotton mill.

Genres: Time Travel, Young Adult, Historical Fiction

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Jean Marzollo was an American children's author and illustrator best known for the I Spy series, a best-selling and award-winning collection written entirely in rhythm and rhyme and illustrated by Walter Wick. Over her career, she wrote more than 100 books for children, parents, and educators, including Help Me Learn Numbers 0-20, The Little Plant Doctor, and Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King. Born and raised in Connecticut, she graduated from the University of Connecticut and earned a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She taught high school English and later worked in educational publishing, serving for 20 years as editor of Scholastic’s Let’s Find Out Magazine. Later in life, she began illustrating her own books.

Reviews

[Jamie Dacyczyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Charlotte Sometimes" is one of my favorite books, so when I heard about this other classic time travel book for younger readers that so many people remember fondly, I had to read it.

Alas, I can't give this one the same glowing reviews. The writing was fine, and at only 175ish pages it was a quick read. The time travel aspect is never explained, except maybe it was all a dream? The worst cop-out ending ever? It seemed to give a fairly accurate portrayal of 1850s factory life and the Irish immigrant conflicts.

My main problem was with the romance. First, this seems initially like a book for younger readers, since its so short and simplistic. But the main character is 15, and then she considers a boy's crotch with interest (and disappointment when his pants stay on) and later there's a topless makeout scene complete with nipples "hard as upholstery tacks". Ok, so this is definitely a book for teens, not middle readers.

Even that wasn't what really bothered me. No, the main problem is that the main character, Kate, goes back in time and wakes up in her great-great-great-grandmother's body, same age, same name. She then IMMEDIATELY gets the hots for Patrick, past-Kate's older brother. Rather than think, "Whoa, that's my great-great-great-uncle, gross" she instead pursues him. She gets jealous of his existing sweetheart, tries to push her out, and then comes on to Patrick. When Patrick objects to HIS SISTER running her fingers through his chest hair, Kate tells him that's she's not really his sister, but that she's from the future. He's eventually convinced, and they commence make-outs and topless groping. They then make plans to make a new start out West where no one will know they're brother and sister.

Ok, I'm not a prude, but.....how is this not incest? Even forgetting that he's her great-great-great-uncle, that's still his sister! She may not be his sister *in mind*, but as far as he's concerned he's still making out with and fondling his sister's body. And if the body is just on loan, then it certainly doesn't feel like past-Kate would have consented to future-Kate using her body to make out with her brother. The whole thing is immensely creepy, but touted as romantic. And I thought Outlander was problematic!

But, it worked out because Kate learns the devastating news that her brother already got the aforementioned sweetheart pregnant, and now has to hastily marry her. What a cad. He's already sleeping with one girl, but when his sister says she's actually from 130 years in the future, he barely hesitates before succumbing to those upholstery tack nipples.

So, creepy romance, confusing intended age bracket. I mean, this was published in 1981, but still.....

Not recommended. It's not a shock to me that this book has largely fallen through the cracks and been forgotten.

[Mare · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book has stuck with me since I read it years ago. I remember liking the story even though it had the disturbing part of her falling in love with her 1850's version "brother". Interesting story line concept.

[Dana Probert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great look at the tough life of Irish Catholic immigrants in the pre civil war years. A bit of an odd, somewhat incestuous love story mixed in that could have been done differently.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another well loved book. It's been a long time since I've read it but it was one of those books that stuck in my head long after I had read it. When I think of my favorite books when I was a young adult, this is one of them.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have a vague memory of this book that stuck with me since childhood, need to find it again. the name is always in the back of my mind.

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a favorite of mine since childhood. I've always been a sucker for time-travel.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know this is a favorite time travel story for many, and I would have loved this if I'd read it the year it was published (I was a high school freshman then). The romance would have been just right for young me, and I'd have learned a lot of history (the No-Nothing-Party, the Yankee prejudice against the Irish, and what life was like as a mill worker. As a much older reader, I appreciated the history but found the romance kind of icky and not believable. Kate also didn't do much with her time in the past, but just passively went with the flow of it all, to obsessed with Patrick to be useful to anyone and more and more convinced that she'll just stay in the past forever (she does miss her parents, but Patrick is her bright shinning sun). Right at the end, she does decide to become involved in the struggles of the mill workers, but doesn't get a chance to do anything before going back to her own time. All in all, a bit disappointing.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am grateful to have read this book. It introduced me to the fictional world of time-travel. But the book is so much more than supernatural. There is a sweet young-love story. I learned about the very hard life of Irish immigrants in the early 1900s. Even after 20+ years the story has stuck with me.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I really liked this, I remember being disturbed that she was in love with a man who became one of her ancestors.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! This was the first book that I fell in love with.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a generous rating. It was an odd time travel "romance" that really only held my interest because it wasn't a very long story and gave me a little bit of an idea of what it was like for Irish immigrant families in 1850 on the East Coast of America.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

A strange little book. I had picked it up long ago, not even realizing it was a ya book. It had never been opened and read before.
Turned out to be a rather neat turn of events, but I don't imagine I would ever have read it except accidentally.

[Reading with Cats · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huh, well, um, this author made some…choices 😳

[TE · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was something out of character for me when I was a kid, but I also loved history, so I gave it a go. I think it could be a full-length adult novel, with just a bit more embellishment. It tells the story of Kate, a girl who moves into a historic house for the summer, which her parents are renovating, which ends up being the house of a distant ancestor, Patrick. To Kate's shock, she wakes to find that she's gone back in time, to 1850, where she lives with her widowed mother and several brothers and sisters, all mill workers struggling to survive. Predictably, Kate falls in love (or at least becomes smitten) with her "relative" Patrick, who is caught up in local strife between anti-Irish town residents and worker's rights activists at the mill.

The book is a good introduction to what life was like for poor immigrants at that time, making young adults more eager to learn about this period of New England's history. The story is well-told, enhanced by a fair amount of detail regarding the daily life and struggles of what were definitively second-class citizens at the time, which resonates even today.