When the Day Comes by Gabrielle Meyer

When the Day Comes, by Gabrielle Meyer
Timeless, Book 1
Bethany House Publishers (May 3, 2022)

Review by Kelly Goshorn

It’s not often I can say that I’ve read a completely new-to-me author as well as genre. But Gabrielle Meyer’s When the Day Comes, is one such book. In this first installment in her Timeless series, Meyer introduces the reader to magical realism. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, magical realism is a literary genre or style that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction.

Meyer’s heroine, Libby, is born with a very special gift. She is a time crosser who lives both in 1774 Williamsburg, Virginia, as well as in 1914 traveling between New York and England. When Libby falls asleep in one path, she wakes up in the other, but her physical body does not travel through time. That is reserved only for her consciousness. If she is hurt, sick, or even pregnant in one timeline, she will not be in the other. However, her personality is the same in both paths and she remembers, ponders, and prays about one place and time, while awake in the other.

While Libby’s family in 1914 knows nothing about her other path in colonial America, her mother in 1774 is also a time crosser who helps Libby navigate living in two very different worlds. When Libby reads a history of the American Revolution while living 1914, she learns the man she loves in 1774 is convicted of treason and is hung as a traitor. If she intervenes, she risks changing history and forfeiting her own life in that path. If she doesn’t, Henry will die. Libby becomes frustrated with God for allowing her to have this knowledge and essentially forbid her from acting on it.

“Only God is in control of our destiny. He alone is sovereign. When we try to control the people and events around us, we are telling Him He doesn’t know what’s best for us. We’re setting ourselves up as our own gods, elevating ourselves above Him.
It’s a dangerous game, Libby.”

When the Day Comes, by Gabrielle Meyer

When Libby turns twenty-one, she must decide which path she will choose and forfeit the other. When circumstances in one path essentially dictate Libby’s choice, the reader will discover a surprising twist that provides both a happy and satisfying ending.

When the Day Comes is a fresh take on both traditional dual timeline and time travel stories while anchoring the reader in well-researched historical detail. The characters are richly drawn, and the story moves at an excellent pace as Libby lives each day in both paths. The author also makes faith and trusting God’s will for your life an essential part of the plot.

I thoroughly enjoyed When the Day Comes and enthusiastically give this novel five fish!