Welcome to the blog tour for the brilliant ‘A Chase In Time.’

Can a trip to the past save the future?

Alex Pilgrim and his sister Ruby always spend a couple of weeks of the school holidays at Aunt Joanna’s house and by ‘house,’ I mean Applecott House: mansion/ Bed and Breakfast. But it may not be Aunt Joanna’s house for much longer as it’s getting more and more expensive to run and she isn’t getting any younger.

Hanging in one of the corridors, is an ornate mirror which (on more than one occasion) Alex is convinced has shown him glimpses of that very same hallway in a different era, and even of a young boy in knickerbockers hurriedly brushing his hair.  Now Alex wasn’t one of those children who believed in magic portals or secret passageways to other worlds and he knew he would never tell anyone else in his family about it – no one would believe him!

However, one day Alex spots two children in the mirror who appear to be squabbling over a bag of sweets.  When he and Ruby touch the glass, they fall right through and land with a bump in the Edwardian era.

Cue stolen heirlooms, vintage car chases, family weddings and the possibility of saving Applecott House for future generations of Pilgrims……?

What an absolutely cracking read! I raced through the pages absolutely loving the vintage feel of this fast-paced time-slip adventure.

Sally Nicholls has created a brilliant cast of characters, where the adults are slightly eccentric, zooming round the world collecting treasures and antiquities and the children solve mysterious stable fires and track down stolen treasures whilst trying to avoid serious kidnap or bodily harm.

The book was full of historical details which really highlighted the differences between life in Edwardian times and now – the general air of grubbiness, the lack of motor cars, how people in the future don’t have wings!  Particularly funny was Ruby’s reaction to the clothes she was expected to wear ‘through the looking glass’: petticoats, stockings and a liberty bodice?! How on Earth was she supposed to do anything wearing all that lot?

I am looking forward to reading further instalments in the series. Something tells me that the mirror has a few more tricks up its metaphorical sleeves.

An exciting new series from a fantastically talented author for readers aged 8+

Many thanks to Nosy Crow for sending me this title to review and to Sian Heap for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

Library Girl.