| Timeless | |
|---|---|
Cover of Timeless |
|
| Author(s) | Alexandra Monir |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Timeless |
| Genre(s) | Romance Science Fiction |
| Publisher | Random House Children's Books |
| Publication date | January 2011 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 304 |
| ISBN | 0385738382 |
| Followed by | The Timekeeper |
Timeless is a 2011 young-adult romance novel written by Alexandra Monir. It was originally published in January 2011, by Random House Children's Publishing. The book circles on Michele Windsor, who accidentally begins to travel through time and meet her ancestors as well as the man of her dreams. It is the first book in the ‘’Timeless’’ series, with the second book ‘’The Timekeeper’’ expected to be published in 2012.
Contents |
Michele Windsor is a normal teenager with two great best friends and a single mom who is like her best friend. For years now, she's been having this dream about looking in the mirror and seeing herself and a handsome young man holding hands, and around her neck is a key on a chain. After her mother dies in a car accident, Michele is sent to live with her previously estranged grandparents, who are Windsors of high society in New York that Michele's mother had distanced herself from when they didn't approve of Henry, the artist she was in love with. The pair ran away together, but Henry disappeared under mysterious circumstances and Michele's mother discovers she is pregnant. Instead of turning to her parents, she vows to raise her child herself, on her own means.
Michele has the typical new kid reaction to her new school and life, and though she is immediately swept up into the higher class snob club because of her last name, she ends up shunning them and hanging out with Cassie and Aaron, the scholarship kids who are much more down to earth. Cassie, who lives next door to the Windsor mansion (in a house that used to be part of the Walker estate), eventually becomes her best friend, and covers for her when Michele starts taking mysterious and sudden trips into the past, thanks to the key from her dream that she finds in her mother’s old possessions.
Being dashed back and forth between centuries, Michele appears to various members of her family who are long dead. They can see her, but no one else can, aside from one—the mysterious man from her dream, who is a Walker and engaged to her great great aunt Violet. She is drawn to him, and he to her. Michele learns his name is Philip Walker and despite their strange circumstances, they fall in love, causing Philip to break off his engagement with Violet and start a family feud between the two households that Michele had previously learned about from her history class.
Michele’s visits to the past, at times prompted by old items from certain years and at times she is merely dragged, continue as she helps members of her family through difficult times and meets Philip for romantic moments. She learns Philip is a talented piano player and composer who would rather go to the New York school that will become Juilliard rather than Harvard Business School and take over the family business. She urges him to follow his heart, and together they write two songs that she pens the lyrics to.
The two songs written by Michele and Philip in the book are available for download in accompaniment of the book. They are “Bring the Colors Back” and “Chasing Time” and were actually written and performed by Alexandra Monir.
Jacqueline Segall calls it “a captivating romance and mystery spanning three decades of high-society life and intrigue in New York City.” Ann Reddy Damon from VOYA says of ‘’Timeless’’ “While the novel suffers from some incredulity in the time traveling, it is a good read for teens looking for a love story."[1] The Kirkus Reviews called it “Overwritten, overwrought and undercooked.”.[2]