What do you think?
Rate this book
Holloway: A Novel of Time Travel, Family, and Autism for Teens
Not yet published
Expected 5 May 26Award-winning author Elana K. Arnold returns with a boldly visionary, deeply felt story that crosses space and time to examine loss and love in a world on the brink.
It is the late summer of 2021, and a girl named Nora is on the Paris Metro.
Nora, whose mother loved her, even though Nora was broken.
Nora, who couldn’t help her mother when her mother needed her most.
Nora, from whom the pandemic has taken nearly everything, save the object she clings to: a cylinder containing her mother’s ashes.
With no family left, no friends to speak of, and no way to turn back time, Nora has come to France to keep a promise she never got to make: to spread the ashes in a place her mother never got to see. But instead, Nora finds herself on the run through a forest in the night, taking refuge in a dark holloway. And when she wakes, and tries to make her way back to something she recognizes, she realizes that is impossible.
Because it is no longer 2021.
Questioning everything—including her own sanity—Nora sets out on a journey through a time and place completely foreign to her, and yet one that, much like the time and place she came from, is defined by death, loss, fear, and uncertainty. A journey in which she must find a way to honor her mother—and heal herself—in a world that feels irrevocably broken.
It is the late summer of 2021, and a girl named Nora is on the Paris Metro.
Nora, whose mother loved her, even though Nora was broken.
Nora, who couldn’t help her mother when her mother needed her most.
Nora, from whom the pandemic has taken nearly everything, save the object she clings to: a cylinder containing her mother’s ashes.
With no family left, no friends to speak of, and no way to turn back time, Nora has come to France to keep a promise she never got to make: to spread the ashes in a place her mother never got to see. But instead, Nora finds herself on the run through a forest in the night, taking refuge in a dark holloway. And when she wakes, and tries to make her way back to something she recognizes, she realizes that is impossible.
Because it is no longer 2021.
Questioning everything—including her own sanity—Nora sets out on a journey through a time and place completely foreign to her, and yet one that, much like the time and place she came from, is defined by death, loss, fear, and uncertainty. A journey in which she must find a way to honor her mother—and heal herself—in a world that feels irrevocably broken.
352 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication May 5, 2026
9415 people want to read
About the author
Elana K. Arnold
34 books1,088 followersELANA K. ARNOLD writes books for and about children and teens. She holds a master’s degree in Creative Writing/Fiction from the University of California, Davis where she has taught Creative Writing and Adolescent Literature. Her most recent YA novel, DAMSEL, is a Printz Honor book, Her 2017 novel, WHAT GIRLS ARE MADE OF, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and her middle grade novel, A BOY CALLED BAT, is a Junior Library Guild Selection. A parent and educator living in Huntington Beach, California, Elana is a frequent speaker at schools, libraries, and writers’ conferences. Currently, Elana is the caretaker of seven pets, only three of which have fur. Sign up for her newsletter here: https://elanakarnold.us10.list-manage...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
not-yet-released
November 21, 2025Going by below comments, the Goodreads description is currently wrong and this is the description:
It is the late summer of 2021, and a girl named Nora is on the Paris Metro.
Nora, whose mother loved her, even though Nora was broken.
Nora, who couldn’t help her mother when her mother needed her most.
Nora, from whom the pandemic has taken nearly everything, save the object she clings to: a cylinder containing her mother’s ashes.
With no family left, no friends to speak of, and no way to turn back time, Nora has come to France to keep a promise she never got to make: to spread the ashes in a place her mother never got to see. But instead, Nora finds herself on the run through a forest in the night, taking refuge in a dark holloway. And when she wakes, and tries to make her way back to something she recognizes, she realizes that is impossible.
Because it is no longer 2021.
Questioning everything—including her own sanity—Nora sets out on a journey through a time and place completely foreign to her, and yet one that, much like the time and place she came from, is defined by death, loss, fear, and uncertainty. A journey in which she must find a way to honor her mother—and heal herself—in a world that feels irrevocably broken.
It is the late summer of 2021, and a girl named Nora is on the Paris Metro.
Nora, whose mother loved her, even though Nora was broken.
Nora, who couldn’t help her mother when her mother needed her most.
Nora, from whom the pandemic has taken nearly everything, save the object she clings to: a cylinder containing her mother’s ashes.
With no family left, no friends to speak of, and no way to turn back time, Nora has come to France to keep a promise she never got to make: to spread the ashes in a place her mother never got to see. But instead, Nora finds herself on the run through a forest in the night, taking refuge in a dark holloway. And when she wakes, and tries to make her way back to something she recognizes, she realizes that is impossible.
Because it is no longer 2021.
Questioning everything—including her own sanity—Nora sets out on a journey through a time and place completely foreign to her, and yet one that, much like the time and place she came from, is defined by death, loss, fear, and uncertainty. A journey in which she must find a way to honor her mother—and heal herself—in a world that feels irrevocably broken.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
3.5 stars
This is a really inventive effort from Arnold that worked well for me in some ways. One thing is for sure: Arnold does A LOT in this novel.
Readers meet Nora in Paris on the Metro, where she's riding along with her mother's ashes. Already a wild start. We soon discover that Nora is autistic and that her mother's death could have been prevented if only her mother hadn't gotten herself into the horrible filth that is fake news. Her mom has some, uh, non-scientific views about vaccines and really loves a bizarro conspiracy theory, and these things - in addition to fully alienating her daughter - end up killing her during the pandemic. At this point, I have exactly no tolerance for people's obsession with believing lies and nonsense, especially when it comes to how much that harms society as a whole, so I struggled getting through some of this content. Ya, it's fiction, but it's also our reality, and that is gross. Arnold has a great author's note in which she describes her impetus for this book and her ongoing concerns about how folks operate in the world at this time, and readers won't be surprised by her insights after they complete this book.
Oh, and Nora is already on a tough journey, but it's made more bizarre by the time travel/magical realism element that honestly I could have done without. I get the point, but I felt at times like I was working in two different novels and think I'd have preferred that. Yes, folks were in extreme danger before based on their identities, and they sure are again, but I'm just not totally sure about this particular genre mash up.
This is an intriguing effort, and while it's not my favorite from this author, I enjoyed it overall and definitely recommend it to folks looking for something new.
*Special thanks to NetGalley and Clarion Books for this arc and alc, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
This is a really inventive effort from Arnold that worked well for me in some ways. One thing is for sure: Arnold does A LOT in this novel.
Readers meet Nora in Paris on the Metro, where she's riding along with her mother's ashes. Already a wild start. We soon discover that Nora is autistic and that her mother's death could have been prevented if only her mother hadn't gotten herself into the horrible filth that is fake news. Her mom has some, uh, non-scientific views about vaccines and really loves a bizarro conspiracy theory, and these things - in addition to fully alienating her daughter - end up killing her during the pandemic. At this point, I have exactly no tolerance for people's obsession with believing lies and nonsense, especially when it comes to how much that harms society as a whole, so I struggled getting through some of this content. Ya, it's fiction, but it's also our reality, and that is gross. Arnold has a great author's note in which she describes her impetus for this book and her ongoing concerns about how folks operate in the world at this time, and readers won't be surprised by her insights after they complete this book.
Oh, and Nora is already on a tough journey, but it's made more bizarre by the time travel/magical realism element that honestly I could have done without. I get the point, but I felt at times like I was working in two different novels and think I'd have preferred that. Yes, folks were in extreme danger before based on their identities, and they sure are again, but I'm just not totally sure about this particular genre mash up.
This is an intriguing effort, and while it's not my favorite from this author, I enjoyed it overall and definitely recommend it to folks looking for something new.
*Special thanks to NetGalley and Clarion Books for this arc and alc, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Covid’s isolation was a bit of a boon to autistic Nora; she revels in great swaths of time to lose herself in her art. Her relationship with her mother is complicated by her mother’s early abandonment of her, leaving her in the care of her now-dead grandmother. When her mother dies of Covid, Nora sets off to France to scatter her mother’s ashes; that journey and the decision about where the ashes should go takes Nora through a holloway, time traveling to post-World War II France, and provides an intersection with the missing years when her mother left her. Arnold intriguingly meshes themes about mothers and daughters, guilt and forgiveness, LGBTQ history, and grounds them with some real historical figures who Nora meets in a rural asylum for the insane. A captivating read. Earc from Edelweiss.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Extraordinary and evocative. I enjoyed Arnold’s other books, but this one— wow. The ways Nora navigates her relationship with her mother and her place in a world that doesn’t have patience for people with autism… the feelings of utter aloneness after Gillian refuses the Covid vaccine and dies… Nora’s determination to honor her mother by taking her ashes to France… and the upheaval of everything she thinks she knows after stumbling onto a path in the forest that somehow transports her back to 1946. Art plays an essential role throughout the story, and Arnold’s weaving of words and events and characters into a completely satisfying resolution is its own work of art. Seriously— read this.
Thank you, HarperCollins and NetGalley for the advance e-book copy.
Thank you, HarperCollins and NetGalley for the advance e-book copy.
November 23, 2025
Was lucky enough to read this early. A surprising, philosophical, moving work of speculative YA. Keep an eye out for this one when it releases!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I loved this one and it would make a fine audio, though "time travel" in the description makes it sound other than it is. in pandemic 2021, 18YO autistic Nora-raised until she's eight by her loving gran, then by her distant, disapproving, anti-vax mother-journeys back in time via an ancient track, the titular holloway. There she discovers who she is, makes relative peace with her mother, and ultimately finds a loving community to belong to in 1946 France. Thoughtful, beautifully structured and written. Recommended to teens who appreciate a deep, complex story and to adults as well.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews