Now & Then [Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

As in Ms. Sheehan's previous book, Lost and Found, she uses language so richly that she creates a full world for the reader. I love this kind of book. The characters become people you know and care about, even while these happen to be hurdling through time in a nearly believable fashion. My only problem is that I was so compelled by the plot, needing to eat up the book fast enough to keep up with my curiosity as to their fate, that I know I missed some of the lovely descriptive language. The only answer is to put it down for a few months and then read it again, more slowly, and savor it.

I give this work four stars, but I wish there were something like a 3.5.

It's interesting to consider two very twenty-first century characters (lawyer Anna and her troubled nephew Joseph) in 1840's Ireland, each simply trying to survive, one way or another. Anna wants nothing but to find her nephew; Joseph isn't so sure he wants to be found. Both find love among the people of the 1840's. Both have to remember not to mention things that we take for granted in the twenty-first century.

However, there are some flaws. Madigan, the Irish wolfhound, turns out to be important to the story but he does not seem to be present as much as the sweet photo on the cover would imply. Also, the supposed "nineteeth century Irish" language ("lad," "lass", "bairn") impresses me more as Scot than Irish. There are differences, and I would've liked to see something in the back matter that indicated that the author had done her linguistic homework.

This is an enjoyable book, but I think it could have been even better.

With the overwhelming popularity of books with other-worldly themes, such as vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, etc., it's not too farfetched to find a novel about a contemporary heroine getting caught up in time travel. In Jacqueline Sheehan's latest novel, "Now and Then," she hones this quirky subject to a finer edge with a brilliant tale that will captures reader's imaginations.

Anna O'Shea was at a point in her life where things had to get better, because they couldn't get much worse. A recent divorcee, Anna had just returned from a harrowing flight from Ireland when she learned her only brother had been in a horrendous accident resulting in massive head injuries, and her 16-year old nephew, Joseph, needs to be picked up from jail.

After checking on her brother and retrieving her errant nephew, Anna hopes to be able to squeeze in a few hours of sleep before hitting other family crises head on. But her plans go awry when she wakes up to find Joseph going through her suitcases. As Anna and Joseph tussle over a partially opened package, the two suddenly find themselves hurtling through time and space to wake up separated in 19th century pre-potato famine Ireland.

Anna is found injured along the coastline, and is taken in by the local blacksmith, Tom, and his wife Glennis. As she struggles to recover from her injuries and confusion, Anna is desperate to find out what happened to Joseph, who seems to have disappeared during their "journey."

Joseph ended up miles away from Anna, and was discovered by an wealthy Englishman's servant and brought to the manor house for recovery. The wily teenager leads the household into believing he is a highly educated young man, and they treat him with the highest honor and respect. Quite the change from his reality back home where he was at the bottom of the high school pecking order

As Anna and Joseph adjust and adapt to their new situations, they both soon discover new strengths and qualities about themselves that had long been buried. But as fate and circumstances work to pull the two visitors from another era together, both find that it will be hard to return to their lives in the 21st century, if they can get back at all.

Jacqueline Sheehan has taken the subject of time travel, and combining it with an indepth look at Irish/British history to deliver a novel that is thoughtful, passionate and fascinating. There is an element of romance, as Anna and Joseph both find love in the most unlikely place, but bear in mind - this is no flighty romance. "Now and Then" is an amazing work of literary fiction to be savored and enjoyed.

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