TIME AFTER TIME

A bit sappy and predictable, this latest British chick-lit entry offers a single girl with a London address, a job crisis, and the romantic man of her dreams.

Thirtysomething Cass has a perfectly nice boyfriend and a moderately satisfying job as manager of a mini-museum London manor house. Satisfied though hardly excited by her lot, Cass agrees to venture to the north of her childhood for the equivalent of her high-school reunion. Though her teenaged years were rotten (father abandoned the family, mother left Cass with her granddad and went to America), Cass still thinks of Gideon Harker—her first, maybe only, true love. The slim chance of seeing Gideon again is reason enough to brave a time warp back to 1984: the past of big hair, black clothes and the meaning of life found in the latest Psychedelic Furs song. Much of this detail will be lost on those readers of the wrong generation, but for those who catch the references to New Wave Romanticism, much fun is had at the expense of Cass’s adolescent self. Gideon misses the reunion, so Cass decides to track him down herself (she’s already broken up with her boyfriend), realizing that she still judges love by her memory of their youthful relationship, and she wants closure—or something better. Teenager Gideon Harker of the bleached hair, dangling earring, and flowing black duster is now millionaire Gideon Harker, former investments trader, living in a small Devon cottage and spending his time surfing, painting, and dodging a fraud investigation. When Cass sees him again, she knows he’s The One. Unfortunately, Gideon’s reception is chilly and rude. Will the two reunite? Will Cass save her foundering museum? Will Gideon be proven innocent of embezzlement? The two are endearing enough to make the resolution worthwhile, though the journey to their happy ending has few surprises.

A likable enough quick read, little more.