Review: Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov, Translated by Angela Rodel
It is not often that I get the chance to read a book set in Bulgaria, so when I found a copy of Time Shelter for sale in Dymocks, I was immediately intrigued. The winner of the International Booker Prize in 2023, the novel boasts an interesting plot. The main character is a collector of things from the past, and soon finds himself employed by the mysterious Gaustine who wants to open a 'clinic of the past' which offers treatments for dementia patients. However, things take a twist when the clinic starts to become too successful and perfectly healthy people begin to spend time and check in to the clinics, which have now sprung up across Europe. Then other places start to embrace this nostalgia for the past, until entire nations decide turn back the clocks and return to the past--or is there something else at work? The author piles on twist after twist in this surprising and cleverly plotted novel. This was something of well, an adventure. The author plays with the reader, often...