HOLLOWAY

A teenage girl time travels to mid-20th-century France.

August 2021: Nora, an autistic Jewish 18-year-old who loves art, has travelled to Paris in the midst of the pandemic following her mother’s death from Covid-19. Grieving both the loss and the painful complexities of their relationship (her mother was a vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist who blamed Nora’s autism on childhood vaccinations), Nora struggles to imagine what her life will look like now. When she travels to the French countryside, her trip takes a violent and unexpected turn, catapulting her back in time to 1946. There she meets Adrien, a gentle boy who offers her kindness at a moment when she desperately needs it. Overwhelmed by the shock of time travel, Nora is admitted to the asylum of Saint-Alban. Within its walls, she forms meaningful friendships, particularly with Beryl (who’s also Jewish) and Penella (who’s Roma), and finds the acceptance she never received from her mother. Along the way, Nora uncovers traumatic experiences that shaped her mother’s fear and mistrust and begins to understand the generational wounds that affected both their lives. Ultimately, she’s faced with a decision about where—and when—she belongs. Beautifully written and deeply introspective, the novel uses flashbacks to build a profound and moving portrait of generational trauma, and the ways love can both wound and heal.

A poignant meditation on what it means to feel understood.