The Expert of Subtle Revisions - by Kirsten Menger-Anderson (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A thrilling historical mystery about a young woman searching for her father, a young man trying to solve an impossible problem, and the quest for the power to transcend time"--

Book Synopsis

A thrilling historical mystery about a young woman searching for her father, a young man trying to solve an impossible problem, and the quest for the power to transcend time.

"From Vienna to San Francisco, I was swept away by this fascinating search for family and for answers."--Janet Skeslien Charles, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Library and Miss Morgan's Book Brigade

One of The Washington Post's "10 Noteworthy Books for March"

In Half Moon Bay, California, 2016, a young woman waits for her father's sailboat to arrive at port. They have agreed to meet on this day and time. Yet he never shows.

He has told her this event might come. And if it did, she was ready. Go to the library in Berkeley, find a certain book, follow the instructions. But what if the instructions lead to more questions than answers?

In 1933, a young man arrives in Vienna to begin a new post as a professor of mathematics at the university. There he finds himself part of the Engelhardt Circle, a group of intellectuals that have recently been targeted by a growing, anti-academic mob. The circle includes the preeminent minds of their time and a cast of characters desperate to get invited into their midst, many of whom will stop at nothing to get there. As fascism rises, and polarization increases, moderate voices are drowned out.

There are whispers of a machine, a music box, which can transport someone through time. But no one can confirm if it's a rumor or true. And the only people who know firsthand are not talking.

Between the young woman, who lives off the grid and spends her free time editing Wikipedia entries and picking fights with people online, and the circle of intellectuals debating space and time in Vienna on the eve of World War II, lie years of history that might easily be erased--unless old secrets are unraveled. Kirsten Menger-Anderson's beautiful meditation on time, love, and obsession shows us how we never truly know what happened in the past, and often how the past eerily mirrors the future.

Review Quotes

"Menger-Anderson's intellectual time-travel mystery intertwines the fates of three characters and explores the scholarly movements that were targeted when fascism was on the rise in Austria."--The Washington Post

"Neither history nor language are neutral in this time-travel mystery. . . . I enjoy it when fiction about time travel addresses tricky interpersonal questions. Kirsten Menger-Anderson's new book, The Expert of Subtle Revisions, does just that, while exploring the way history is perforce affected by how it is told and who does the telling. . . . Hase is a fascinating narrator. . . . The 1933 chapters, meanwhile, feel eerily contemporary. . . . Menger-Anderson superbly demonstrates how a writer needn't shy away from the political tensions of a historical period but can use them to heighten and contextualize setting, character and plot."--Los Angeles Times

"An eloquent story of time travel and family secrets . . . Menger-Anderson does an excellent job of recreating the fraught academic and cultural life of Vienna before the 1938 Anschluss, and she effectively sustains the pretzel logic of time travel. It's an appealing intellectual mystery."--Publishers Weekly

"In her brilliant, unsettling novel, Kirsten Menger-Anderson reminds the reader that every nuance counts. Before, history was written by the victor; now, an army of volunteers with pseudonyms like 'Manifold' battle and edit each Wikipedia page. From Vienna to San Francisco, I was swept away by this fascinating search for family and for answers."--Janet Skeslien Charles, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Library and Miss Morgan's Book Brigade

"Smart. Propulsive. Addictive. Brilliantly plotted and filled with deft twists and unforgettable characters, this dual-timeline novel about obsession, madness, and love is a must-read for fans of both mystery and historical fiction. I loved this book."―Peggy Townsend, author of The Beautiful and the Wild

"Set in parallel historical eras, Kirsten Menger-Anderson's fantastic novel of time-travelling mathematicians addresses the perilous line between brilliance and madness, the politics of hate, and the unsung women relegated to the shadows of history--all through a transporting story of love . . . and Wikipedia!"―Daphne Kalotay, author of The Archivists

"The Expert of Subtle Revisions begins with a mysterious disappearance and ends with a moving discovery. Along the way, Kirsten Menger-Anderson . . . manages to raise stirring questions about identity, family, and what it means to record and revise history, especially one's own."―Stephen McCauley, author of My Ex-Life and The Object of My Affection

"A touching and deftly constructed story about the most precious thing we have--time. From modern-day San Francisco to Croatia before the Great War and 1930s Vienna, Kirsten Menger-Anderson follows her characters as they try to solve the mysteries of science, faith, and love. A glorious book."―Laila Lalami, author of Pulitzer Prize-finalist The Moor's Account

About the Author

Kirsten Menger-Anderson is the author of Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain, a collection of short stories that was a finalist for the Northern California Book Award in fiction and one of Time Out Chicago's top ten books of the year. Her stories and essays have appeared in publications including Ploughshares, the Southwest Review, LitHub, and Undark. She currently lives in San Francisco with her family. The Expert of Subtle Revisions is her debut novel.