To Nowhere and Back

by Margaret J. Anderson

This book is about a young girl with and unusual the ability to travel through time.

Genres: Middle Grade, Time Travel, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Fantasy

141 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Jane Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad, but not good. I wasn’t surprised or delighted.

I bought this because I liked the ending - per another review. But I was very disappointed with how the author did the ending. I describe it in the Spoiler below.


Ann is sick and comes to Elizabeth. Elizabeth is also sick and in bed. When she wakes she sees Ann’s brown shawl on the floor so that tells Elizabeth that Ann is inside her. But Elizabeth has no feeling of Ann being inside. They don’t communicate. I wanted to see Ann’s soul being alive and communicating with Elizabeth. I wanted to see Ann enjoy going to school and learning to read. That was Ann’s dream. But we don’t see that. It’s as if Ann is dead. But the author tells us that Ann is now living through Elizabeth.


The main part of the story was predictable. The characters and things they did were ordinary.

This is a children’s book. So maybe it doesn’t have to be as good as other books? But I’ve loved and enjoyed many children’s and YA books. So I’m going with my honest grown-up feelings.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 141 pages. Swearing language: none. Sexual content: none. Setting: current day England. Copyright: 1975. Genre: time travel children’s fiction.

[Anne (w/ an E) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this when I was 9 yrs old and loved it. I am trying to find a copy but I think it is out of print. I would love to read it again.


[I did find and purchase a copy of this book.]


5-31-2020 I just read this again and I think enjoyed it as much as I did the first [second, third, fourth. etc] times :D

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

American 10-year-old Elizabeth and her parents come to live in a small cottage in the west of England so her dad can do research in Hardy Country. Elizabeth is unsettled by it all. One day on a walk through the nearby wild woods she and her mother come across a pair of ancient derelict cottages. When Elizabeth returns there on her  own later she discovers that, far from derelict, the cottages are athrob with life; further, the forest around them is far thicker than she remembers it being before . . .

She eventually discovers that she has timeslipped back to 1871. There is a 10-year-old living in one of the cottages, Ann, and Ann alone of all her family knows that Elizabeth is there watching. When Elizabeth impulsively touches Ann, her identity flows into the other girl, and she is able to spend some time as a not-entirely-passive observer of Ann's life before running back through the wild woods and into the present. Needless to say, when she gets home she finds she hasn't been gone long.

Several times more Elizabeth journeys into the past to spend extended periods living within Ann's life. Finally, though, Ann's baby brother dies and Ann herself falls ill -- and, it seems certain, will soon join him. She chooses as a better option than this to come into the present and let her selfness flow into Elizabeth, the way Elizabeth's has so often flowed into her. For the rest of Elizabeth's life Ann will be, as it were, at the back of her mind.

This is an extraordinarily charming tale, and in both telling and subtlety of concept an advance on Anderson's earlier In the Keep of Time. I do hope some wise publisher somewhere has the sense soon to bring it back into print; at the moment used copies are commanding moderately high prices on Amazon. (I was able to obtain my reading copy solely through New Jersey's inter-library loan system, shortly to be axed at the behest of NJ Governor Chris Christie, who's cutting the state's library budget by a completely insane 74%.)

[Jeff Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book because I heard it was a great childrens' book. I must admit I liked the 2 children's books I have read included Grimsley Hollow series and another book.

I absolutely loved the relationship that Elizabeth has with Ann in this book. Even though there are major differences in their lives. The way Ann opens Elizabeth's eyes to the past and how Elizabeth without realizing it helps Ann.

I can't give anything away so the review is short

5/5 Stars

No language, No Sex, Violence consists of some yelling

[Addie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing adventure filled with happiness! I just need to get my hands on a copy of it - it's so hard to find!

[Addie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great time travel adventure! Such a good book!

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

it left me unmoved.

[Sophie Mirgaux de Pina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this again to my children after my mom dug it out of our basement :) still a good kids book.

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 2 out of 5]

C. children's book, grade 4, fantasy, England, mom's stash, discard