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I try not to give five stars lightly, but Lea Vandervelde manages the near impossible: shedding light on the life of an enslaved woman.

Harriet Scott was the wife and co-litigant of Dred Scott in on of the most infamous Supreme Court cases in American history.

Harriet Scott literally did the dirty laundry of many of the most famous people of the pre- and post civil war era. It was largely through Harriet's efforts that Dred's story and legacy was kept alive. The books adds context to the life and times of these two key, but little known, figures in the events leading to the Civil War and the eventual ending of slavery.

This is an academic history, written by a skilled academic historian.
I found it totally fascinating.

I'm not sure why this book is getting so much praise.
The basic premise is good but the writing becomes increasingly cartoonish as the novel progresses and the dialog is stilted throughout.
The author drags out a murder scene (where the other characters react in way real people would not) that leads to an unsatisfying ending.
It's as though the author was the popular kid in her MFA program and now book publishing eco system feels compelled to praise her.
I asked a couple of other people to read this book to see if it was just me.
Neither of them made it past the third chapter.

It's Proust and I made it through it.
But by the end I wanted to reach into the novel and slap the main character over his increasing ridiculous relationship with his girlfriend.

I'm a big sci-fi / time travel fan and The Time Tourists checked all the boxes for me.

Nelson literally did her home work.

When I actually learn things from a sci-fi book, I know the author did actual, substantial research.
In this case, that research involves everything from architecture and history to physics and photography. Nelson's research helps propel the narrative rather than delivering technical information lectures within the framework of the story.

I even picked up a few new vocabulary words. The research and background work is comparable with more established sci-fi authors such as Kim Stanley Robinson, only not ponderous as Robinson's can sometimes be.

The female protagonist is well-developed and relatable. I found myself really hating the bad guy, especially since the author builds some good background as to why the bad guy is bad.

Some secondary characters sort of get lost along the way. Some of the twists and turns may be a little predicable, but who cares? That's the case with plenty of other fun-to-read books in lots of genres.

This is a compelling read, a page turner, fit for a beach read or long winter evenings.

Overall, this a laudable effort from a first-time novelist.
I will definitely read the sequel - The Yesterday Girl.