Book 1 in the “History Mystery” Series
Abby Thomas is spending the summer in a run-down old house with a bratty pre-teen named Merrideth she is supposed to tutor. Not a dream job. But it does come with perks.
There’s John Roberts, a devastatingly attractive neighbor who is almost too wonderful to be real.
And there’s the new computer program Beautiful Houses—also too amazing to be real. No … too amazing to be real. No one knows how it works, but with it she can rewind and fast-forward the lives of all the people who ever lived in the house, including Charlotte Miles.
In 1858, the house is a train stop on the Alton & Chicago Line. And Charlotte is stuck there serving meals to the passengers, wondering if she’ll ever get to have any fun. And then she meets two travelers who change her life forever.
There’s James McGuire with whom she falls in love. And there’s his boss, a young Springfield lawyer named Abraham Lincoln. His debate with political opponent Stephen Douglas catapults him onto the national stage. And it inspires Charlotte to take up the cause of abolition.
The House
A stop on the Alton & Chicago Line. A stop on the Underground Railroad.
Watching the house’s history unfold, Abby and Merrideth gain a new perspective on their own lives as time and again they see God’s loving hand in the lives of its inhabitants.
more
(3.5 / 5)
Abby takes a volunteer job as a live-in summer tutor for an eleven-year-old named Meredith and moves into their large, old house in a once-thriving railroad town. After spending some time trying to bring the unhappy, spoiled Meredith around to the idea of studying, and exploring the neighborhood a bit, Abby and Meredith discover a strange secret on the brand new computer Abby’s estranged dad bought her–they can follow their house back in time and watch the lives of people who lived there in the past.
The first thing I want to say is don’t get too hung up on the categorization of this book as “time travel.” It’s not what almost anyone would really consider time travel. Abby and Meredith can watch the past, and even in some nebulous way “hear thoughts” from at least one person they’re watching, but there is no traveling in time. They call it time surfing. And while I did have some issues with this book, by the end, I realized I had mostly enjoyed it, and plan to continue with the series.
It takes a long time for anything to really happen. We get to know Abby and Meredith as the former gets settled in and the latter balks against all forms of learning. I found Abby to be not a terribly nice person, kind of even haughty sometimes. And Meredith is just a spoiled brat, plain and simple. She acts older than her age at first too, especially when she’s acting out. I also had to wonder if college-student Abby had ever interacted with a boy before when she meets John Roberts and acts like a middle-schooler.
When the time surfing really got going, I found myself a lot more wrapped up in both of the storylines. Meredith began to be less bratty, probably as much because she’s got someone spending time with her and showing real interest (make no mistake–divorce and single parent-ship can be really hard on a child). And the story of Charlotte, the young woman who lived in the house in and around the Civil War, was interesting.
There are a few things that really took me out of the story, which are likely a result of the book being self-published. A jarring lack of scene transitions, for example. And, for a book so focused on history, I was seriously shocked to see Abby say that in pre-Civil War times, Illinois (the state they’re in) bordered the slave state of Ohio. Not only has Illinois never bordered Ohio (Indiana is in between), but Ohio was not a slave state.
The book is novella-length and not a difficult read by any means. I’m definitely curious to see where the series goes from here. I would recommend this book for readers of Christian fiction, especially those who like history.
I really enjoyed this book. It’s the first in this series and I can’t wait to read book two and continue with this adventure. Abby has taken a tutor job for summer. Little does she realize that she will be so much more to her young student. I loved how the characters were revealed and changed as the story progresses. I also loved the underlying christian theme. I used to read christian fiction but gave up because they all seemed to be exactly the same. This book doesn’t over do it and the story is unique. Michelle Babb is the narrator for this series and she is wonderful. Her voice helps to bring this book to life. I was gifted this book with the understanding that I would leave an honest review.
Abby Thomas is spending the summer in a run-down old house tutoring a bratty pre-teen named Merrideth. Merrideth’s parents recently divorced, so Merrideth and her mother moved to a new town where they have inherited a house from Merrideth’s great aunt. When Abby discovers a way to reach Merrideth is through a computer game learning the history of the house they are living in she jumps at the chance. While watching the house’s history winds Abby and Merrideth start to see themselves in a new perspective.
This is a very well written story, characters, and setting. The is a wonderful young adult which is a Historical, Christian Mystery. This is the first book of I have read by Author Deborah Heal and it will not be my last. I really enjoyed this book as an adult, I would definitely recommend this to anyone that likes mysteries especially middle school aged children.
I listened to the audio version of this book which was narrated by Michelle Babb. Michelle is a gifted storyteller. She has a way of drawing the reader in and bringing the story to life. She is great with accents so you have no problem telling each character from the other and can see the character’s personality shine through.
I volunteered listened to this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and in no way have been influenced.
The story was a little slow in the beginning. I’m glad I continued. Once Charlotte started appearing, it really picked up and helped both characters to change and grow. They realized life was not that bad and they had a purpose. It was nice to see how Abby became a mentor to Merri and helped her deal with her problems. Very well written. Nice clean story.