When Jessica Allendon decides to meet up with her namesake she gets a little more than she’d bargained for. Before the two even get a chance to speak there is a strange explosion. When Jess opens her eyes she sees what initially looks just like the Waterloo Station she was standing in moments ago, but on further inspection she realises it is a world away from the London she knows. In this London she has no freedom, no rights, no friends and no family.
Though the year and date are the same, the history of this parallel London is entirely different. World Wars have not taken place, women do not have the vote and the city is rife with opium dens. Jess tries as hard as she can to walk in the shoes of her double without arousing suspicion, but London is a dangerous place to be, especially when you are learning the laws and limits of the city as you go.
Jess has strong suspicions that the girl whose place she has taken is involved in some sort of terrorist activity, but the trouble is she doesn’t know whose side she is on. Not only must Jess find a way to get home safely, she must do it without destroying the life of her other self.
N. M. Browne explores the possibilities of alternative histories and the consequent butterfly effects on contemporary society. Jess is forced to contemplate the rights and wrongs of war and terrorism and ultimately decide where her loyalties lie. N. M. Browne skilfully places her protagonist in situations which make the reader appreciate their liberty and how different their own lives could easily be.
N. M. Browne was born and raised in Lancashire. She read Philosophy and Theology at Oxford and then trained as a teacher. After a brief spell teaching she went back to college and studied for an MBA. She worked for an oil company as a kind of all-purpose executive person, and after leaving, remembered what it was she’d always wanted to do – write.
Published by Bloomsbury on 4th February 2008 Paperback, priced £6.99
