Plot
In the 21st century, the government of the United Kingdom finds a door that allows time travel. They create the Ministry of Time. The Ministry rescues several historical figures and brings them to the present; to avoid disrupting the past, they specifically choose people who would have died in their original timelines. They refer to these "time refugees" as "expats". Each expat is assigned a "bridge," an employee who will teach them about the modern world.
The novel's unnamed narrator is the daughter of a British man and a Cambodian immigrant. She is assigned to be the bridge to Graham Gore, an explorer who would have died on Franklin's lost expedition. The other expats include Lieutenant Thomas Cardingham, extracted from the Battle of Naseby (1645); Margaret "Maggie" Kemble, extracted from the Great Plague of London (1665); and Captain Arthur Reginald-Smyth, extracted from the Battle of the Somme (1916).
The narrator teaches Gore about the modern world. Over the next months, they have discussions about Britain's changing views on race, imperialism, gender, religion, and sexuality, among other topics. The narrator becomes good friends with Maggie and Arthur, as well as her fellow bridge Simellia.
The narrator's handler Quentin is shot and killed. Adela, the Vice Secretary of the Ministry, becomes the narrator's new handler. The narrator and Gore are attacked by two spies from the future: the Brigadier and Salese. After the Ministry acquired the time door, these spies were trapped in the story’s present (their past). A mole is leaking information to the two spies, placing all of the bridges and expats at risk. Gore and the narrator are moved to a safe house. There, they become lovers.
Arthur is killed. Maggie's safe house is attacked, but she survives. Maggie, Cardingham, Gore, and the narrator escape to a pre-arranged safe area. The narrator reveals that all the expats have implanted microchips so that the Ministry can track them. She helps them remove the chips, but Graham is shocked by this perceived betrayal.
The narrator leaves to get help from Adela. The narrator and Adela are attacked by the spies from the future. Adela kills Salese, while the Brigadier escapes. Adela reveals that she is the narrator's future self. In Adela's original timeline, she and Gore married and had a son. She was sent back in time to ensure that the Ministry retained its power and that history progressed along her preferred timeline. She killed Quentin because he was the mole in her previous timeline. In Adela's previous timeline, the Ministry killed Arthur and Maggie. Adela, feeling betrayed that the Ministry killed her friends, gives the narrator access codes. Graham holds Adela at gunpoint while the narrator returns to the Ministry headquarters.
At the Ministry, the narrator encounters Simellia and the Brigadier. Simellia is revealed to be the mole. She believes that the future Ministry will become a fascist organization that contributes to billions of deaths through climate change and imperialism. The narrator damages the time door, which kills the Brigadier. Simellia escapes.
The narrator returns home, where she meets Graham; Adela was killed when the time door was damaged. Graham holds her at gunpoint. He forces the narrator to use Adela's access codes to delete all of the Ministry's files. Graham flees with the surviving expats. The narrator is fired by the Ministry, receives a redundancy payoff, and is barred from returning to the Ministry building. In a final conversation with the Secretary, it's revealed that Simellia is blamed for damaging the time door. Cardingham is captured; Graham and Maggie remain at large. Months later, the narrator receives a photograph from Graham and Maggie, revealing that they have traveled to Alaska. The narrator resolves to travel to find them.
The narrator reveals that she is writing the entire novel to her past self in case the time door is ever repaired. The postscript instructs the reader to be wary of making the same mistakes as the narrator and that she is forgiven.
Adaptation
In February 2024, the BBC announced it had commissioned a new drama based on the novel, from Alice Birch. The six-part series will be produced by A24 for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. [22]
Fans of Spanish TV series El ministerio del tiempo raised suspicions of plagiarism, backed by series creator Javier Olivares himself. [23] RTVE stated its intention to "request explanations from the BBC about the announcement it made without prejudice to the rights it has in the defense of its interests". [23]
The novel's author Kaliane Bradley responded on social media, stating her novel was an original work of fiction based around Franklin's lost expedition and inspired by AMC's The Terror, [24] and that she had never seen the Spanish series in question. [25]
