FICTION

If I Could Turn Back Time

by Beth Harbison
St. Martin's. Jul. 2015. 384p. ISBN 9781250043818. $26.99; ebk. ISBN 9781466842199. F
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Imagine waking up in your childhood bed and realizing you are 17 years old again. Thirty-six-year-old Ramie Phillips experiences just that in Harbison's latest (after Driving with the Top Down). Despite a successful career and devoted friends, Ramie realizes that her life has never felt complete and drinks her worries away, only to wake up in the past. But why the time loop? Determined to make better choices the second time around, she spends more time with her now-deceased father, tries to appreciate the innocence and freedom of youth, and gives her high school boyfriend another shot at long-term love. But when she wakes up in yet another alternate universe where she is older but living under very different circumstances, she begins to understand that fate works in a mysterious way.
VERDICT The time-loop phenomenon is nearing ubiquity (Groundhog Day, Ken Grimwood's Replay, Richard Lupoff's 12:01 PM, Andrea Lochen's The Repeat Year), but Harbison delivers a worthy read. Ramie is relatable and endearing and offers everyone a chance to think, "what if?" [See Prepub Alert, 1/25/15.]
Reviewed by Chelsie Harris, San Diego Cty. Lib. , Jun 15, 2015
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