The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

Book Description

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams.  She is tasked with working as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring an “expat” the government ministry has collected from history. The goal of the project is to determine whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time. 

Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.

Review

Some stories sweep you away. Others settle quietly into your heart and stay there. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley did both, and I’m excited to tell you why.

Bradley’s novel sits beautifully at the intersection of speculative fiction and historical fantasy. Its sweeping, high-concept idea reminded me of The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. But where The Long Earth series zoomed out to explore grand, universe-spanning ideas, Bradley’s story stays grounded. It’s intimate. Personal. Even with an unnamed protagonist.

If you’ve read The Ten Thousand Doors of January, the tone and themes in The Ministry of Time will feel familiar. Both novels delve into identity, colonialism, and the painful, beautiful search for belonging. And like The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Bradley’s prose is lyrical and aching.

The story delves into the messy, dangerous hope that comes with daring to love across a divide. Bradley also captures something I recognized immediately—the loneliness of being untethered from your own place and time.

When Stories Become Personal

One story note that struck a chord in me was the bridge’s experience with her biracial identity. Bradley weaves the bridge’s background into the story with honesty and tenderness. The character grapples with microaggressions, and the endless need for others to label her or pin her into a box she doesn’t quite fit.

Reading those scenes felt like someone reaching across the pages to say, I see you.

As someone who has also experienced the weariness of being asked “Where are you really from?” or being treated as an object of curiosity rather than a person, I found her journey painfully real. That longing for belonging, for a home that doesn’t demand an explanation, threads through every part of the novel and wrapped around my heart.

While The Ministry of Time uses time travel as a device, it isn’t concerned with paradoxes or timelines. Instead, Bradley asks a more interesting question: What does it cost us to leave everything we know behind?

Readers looking for hard science fiction might feel let down by The Ministry of Time. But if you love speculative fiction full of heart, you’ll find The Ministry of Time a dazzling, unforgettable experience.

Content Warning

Blood, Cannibalism, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Forced Institutionalization, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Racism, War, Xenophobia

The header photo is a composite image. Base image by James Padolsey on Unsplash