Reviewed by Saifunnissa Hassam for Readers' Favorite

Sarah M. Eden's The Tides of Time is an action-filled time travel and historical fiction story interwoven with a spellbinding romance. The story begins in France. In 1793, Lili Minet was wanted by Robespierre's revolutionary Tribunal for helping people escape from persecution and execution. Lili runs through streets to get to the docks at Honfleur, to a ship that will take her to safety in England. The story twists and turns right from the outset. As the boat enters the English Channel, a fierce storm hurls Lili into the roiling waters. She is rescued from the sea by an English lighthouse keeper, Armitage Pierce. She is bewildered when she discovers she is on Loftstone Island, off England's southern coast. Her world turns completely upside down when she finds out that the year is 1873. She struggles against accepting the reality of an impossibility. How can she be living 80 years in the future, in 1873 and not 1793? Is this part of some unbelievable plot by the Tribunal to deceive her and return her to France? 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Sarah M. Eden's The Tides of Time for its suspenseful storyline and unforgettable characters. I liked how the story begins right away with Lili Minet's predicament: Where is she? Even more intriguing, where is she in time? I became increasingly curious as the things of everyday life on Lofstone Island puzzle Lili because they are utterly unfamiliar to her: matches, the kitchen stove, paraffin lamps, and the terrifying monster called a train. Lili struggles with the strangeness of her situation, and Armitage is highly puzzled by her coldness when he attempts to be kind and helpful. Grandfather, on the other hand, connects immediately to Lili with his gentleness. I loved how this leads to personal inner journeys for all three characters and their strong, lasting connections. I liked the story's approach in that Lili did not lose her memories of either period, and she grew in a personal way, finding the love of her life in this terrifying journey. I was enchanted by the interweaving of Lili's French, her broken English, the Pierces' English of the 19th century, and the legends of Hampshire along England's southern coast. The Tides of Time is gripping and exciting at every twist and turn.