2032. It’s hot. So hot that it’s unsafe to be out in the sun during the day, with the government imposing a law to keep people inside when over 42deg C. Siblings Joel and Polly are melting inside their flat in the summer school holidays. Learning that they are going to stay at their aunt Jessie’s in the country comes as a relief.

But it’s just as hot there too. In fact, a nearby lake has drastically shrunk in the heatwave revealing the remains of a village once called Syndercombe. Aunt Jessie explains that there are even more buildings under the water that is left, and the area was flooded on purpose.

Sick of the heat, and lured by the cool remaining water in the reservoir, Polly goes swimming – and wakes up in 1952 – as someone else, in Syndercombe.

This someone is Nellie, taken in by an older couple when her mum passed away. Nellie is kept company by Lena who is recuperating in the country after tuberculosis. Nellie and Lena have become the very best of friends.

‘What’s the story, morning glory?’

‘What’s your tale, nightingale?’

Nellie is an excellent swimmer in her area, and with Lena at her side Nellie tries out for an amazing opportunity. A wealthy man is keen to sponsor and train a child to be the very first child to swim the Channel between England and France. Nellie is devastated when a boy she’s never met before is chosen over her, and the disappointment just won’t leave her. Again, with Lena by her side, another opportunity arises.

Polly returns home to 2032 in awe. She visits Syndercombe again at exactly the same time as the first – just in case it’s important to the portal she had found. She was right. 2am is very important to Nellie, as this is the time that the local water board say her village must be empty before they flood the area. A dam is being built and everyone must move. Nellie hates to think about leaving her farm and her favourite Clydesdale horses. But she has a distraction. She is going to train to swim the Channel anyway, and the colder the water the better.

Polly can understand Nellie’s worries, but she has some of her own in 2032. Her own best friend has ignored her for weeks after an argument, and her big brother Joel is acting strangely. Surprising news comes from home and Joel finally tells her what’s wrong. The heat makes everything harder and Polly is always keen to return under the water to 1952’s Nellie. At least they’re not her own problems.

But news of bad weather is coming, and Dad is coming to get them. Polly is torn. She has to know what’s going to happen to Nellie and Lena.

This is a time-slip novel with a difference. The portal is underwater and at a key time in the demise of an entire village. Progress after the 2nd World War demands more fresh water for towns and the best place for a reservoir means drowning this village. Also woven into the story is swimming of the English Channel, surprise family announcements in both timelines, along with friendship dilemmas too.

Key themes are whether decisions made in the pursuit of progress are the best in the long run. There are fracturing friendships and miscommunications, parental expectations vs being yourself, and of course the result of ‘progress’ being global warming.

The ending is very neat and tidy and one moment I was hoping it wouldn’t be, then had a tear in my eye because it was wonderful.

Author – Emma Carroll

Age – 9+

Read more book reviews of Emma Carrol’s titles (Click on a Cover)

(2023, Faber & Faber, Allen & Unwin, Time Travel, Historical, 1950’s, Friendship, Swimming the Channel, The Cost of Progress, Flooding a town, Bullying, True self, Dreams, Expectations, Friendships, Portal, Time Slip)