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The Ithaca Trilogy #1
Ithaca Bound
An English girl. A Roman soldier. A rift in time.
What if Rome never fell?
When ancient ruins are discovered on Lillian’s family farm, emotions boil over as treasure seekers and the government descend like locusts. But ancient altars aren’t the only riches lying beneath the soil at Ithaca Farm.
History lurks beneath the thin veneer of time. And when the past colludes with someone much closer to home, the greatest threat to Lillian’s family and friends isn’t necessarily the Roman army…
Unless she can halt the formidable march of ancient Rome into her time, she’ll lose the only family she has left, and that isn’t an option.
A sweeping saga of friendship, love, and the corruption of power.
What if Rome never fell?
When ancient ruins are discovered on Lillian’s family farm, emotions boil over as treasure seekers and the government descend like locusts. But ancient altars aren’t the only riches lying beneath the soil at Ithaca Farm.
History lurks beneath the thin veneer of time. And when the past colludes with someone much closer to home, the greatest threat to Lillian’s family and friends isn’t necessarily the Roman army…
Unless she can halt the formidable march of ancient Rome into her time, she’ll lose the only family she has left, and that isn’t an option.
A sweeping saga of friendship, love, and the corruption of power.
324 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 21, 2022
127 people are currently reading
266 people want to read
About the author
Kirsten McKenzie
17 books273 followersKirsten McKenzie fought international crime for fourteen years as a Customs Officer in both England and New Zealand, before leaving to work in the family antique store. Now a full time author, she lives in New Zealand with her family and alternates between writing time travel trilogies and polishing her next thriller. Her spare time is spent organising author events and appearing on literary panels at festivals around the world.
Her work has appeared in anthologies in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, including the NHS fundraiser - Noir From The Bar. She has had non-fiction pieces appear in The Spinoff, and in other New Zealand publications.
In 2024, her short story "The Watchman," part of the anthology Remains To Be Told: Dark Tales of Aotearoa, was shortlisted for the 2024 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Short Story. Remains To Be Told: Dark Tales of Aotearoa won the 2024 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Collected Work. Kirsten’s time travel novel, Ithaca Bound, was shortlisted for the 2023 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novel. In 2021, her historical thriller, The Forger and the Thief, was longlisted for the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novel. Her short story "Paperwork," part of the anthology Noir From The Bar, was also longlisted that same year for the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Short Story. Her paranormal thriller, Painted, was longlisted for the 2018 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novel.
Kirsten’s current project is a collaboration with best selling time travel author Shawn Inmon, where she is writing time travel stories in his Middle Falls world, but shifting the story over the pond to Northumberland, to the fictional town of Cheviot Hills. The first book in the series is The Deadly Life of Diana Penn, with the second book in the collaboration due February 2026.
You can sign up for her sporadic newsletter at: https://www.kirstenmckenzie.com/newsl...
You can also find her on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok.
Her work has appeared in anthologies in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, including the NHS fundraiser - Noir From The Bar. She has had non-fiction pieces appear in The Spinoff, and in other New Zealand publications.
In 2024, her short story "The Watchman," part of the anthology Remains To Be Told: Dark Tales of Aotearoa, was shortlisted for the 2024 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Short Story. Remains To Be Told: Dark Tales of Aotearoa won the 2024 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Collected Work. Kirsten’s time travel novel, Ithaca Bound, was shortlisted for the 2023 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novel. In 2021, her historical thriller, The Forger and the Thief, was longlisted for the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novel. Her short story "Paperwork," part of the anthology Noir From The Bar, was also longlisted that same year for the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Short Story. Her paranormal thriller, Painted, was longlisted for the 2018 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novel.
Kirsten’s current project is a collaboration with best selling time travel author Shawn Inmon, where she is writing time travel stories in his Middle Falls world, but shifting the story over the pond to Northumberland, to the fictional town of Cheviot Hills. The first book in the series is The Deadly Life of Diana Penn, with the second book in the collaboration due February 2026.
You can sign up for her sporadic newsletter at: https://www.kirstenmckenzie.com/newsl...
You can also find her on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok.
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 27, 2025
The beginning intrigued me but as I moved through the book, it became ridiculous. The main character is clumsy; the setting, characters and, actually, the entire scenario became outright stupid. I put the book down. I gave it a two star for effort alone.
April 22, 2023
Loved this book, I got to know the characters well and I can't wait for the next one.
January 4, 2023
Brilliant book! Amazing story line, I was hooked from the first page. Lillian was a very likeable character and very relatable. A must read if you like time travel and romance!
January 15, 2024
Entertaining read! Can't wait to start book #2
May 27, 2023
Time Travel returns
Ithaca Bound is the first book of a trilogy that follows on from The Old Curiosity Shop Trilogy by the same author.
Whilst I loved the original books this is even better. The characters feel very real and you quickly get invested in their stories. I have always loved Roman History and the story of Hadrians Wall was my first foray into that time. Some of the characters are transported over from the original trilogy which is actually very nice as their stories were not satisfactorily finished in the original books. It’s nice to find out they Kirsten had plans for them all along. A great book that has re ignited my love of a great period of time
Ithaca Bound is the first book of a trilogy that follows on from The Old Curiosity Shop Trilogy by the same author.
Whilst I loved the original books this is even better. The characters feel very real and you quickly get invested in their stories. I have always loved Roman History and the story of Hadrians Wall was my first foray into that time. Some of the characters are transported over from the original trilogy which is actually very nice as their stories were not satisfactorily finished in the original books. It’s nice to find out they Kirsten had plans for them all along. A great book that has re ignited my love of a great period of time
June 24, 2025
I actually could not. I got about 50% of the way through and decided to go look at the less nice reviews. They mirrored my thoughts so I knew at least I was not alone in my distaste for this book. I then decided to see what other readers thought about the second book. Apparently it does not get any better, still jumpy, no resolutions on the horizon, so off to book 3's reviews I went. There is one 5-star review... This indicates that no one on my wavelength could bother finishing the series. Thus I have decided to scrap the time I've already spent trying to play catch-up with the cut scenes (this book is comprised entirely thereof, so if that's your vibe go forth, if like me you prefer slightly more context and nuance I suggest you look elsewhere), and move on to books which ideally don't make me feel like I have somehow missed the plot (literally).
November 22, 2023
Riveting
Wonderful blending of time slip mystery and real history. The characters from a previous trilogy ( The Older Curiosity Shop) are a delight to rediscover, while the new characters are ones that readily evoke sympathy or contempt. Can’t wait to read further books in the series.
Wonderful blending of time slip mystery and real history. The characters from a previous trilogy ( The Older Curiosity Shop) are a delight to rediscover, while the new characters are ones that readily evoke sympathy or contempt. Can’t wait to read further books in the series.
December 5, 2023
Rome is coming!
Slow burner. Took a while to introduce the main p!ayers. I like the links to the old curiosity shop stories. Jane Badrick is a bit of a bad in and no mistake. Love that this is set not too far away and names places I know.
Slow burner. Took a while to introduce the main p!ayers. I like the links to the old curiosity shop stories. Jane Badrick is a bit of a bad in and no mistake. Love that this is set not too far away and names places I know.
April 25, 2023
A Thrilling Adventure Through Time and Roman Britain!
I absolutely loved Ithaca Bound, the first in the Ithaca Time Travel Trilogy! This thrilling novel took me on a journey through Roman Britain, with all the adventure, danger, and excitement I could hope for.
The novel is a perfect mix of action and emotion, with plenty of heart-pumping moments and touching scenes of love and friendship. The corrupting influence of power is a central theme, and the author weaves it expertly into the story, adding depth and complexity to the characters and their motivations. I also loved the attention to detail with the historical elements. This was spot on.
Overall, Ithaca Bound is a must-read for anyone who loves time travel, historical fiction, or just a superb adventure story. The writing is wonderful, the plot gripping, and the characters engaging. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a thrilling read that will keep them on the edge of their seat until the very end!
In fact, so much did I love this novel that I’ve already pre-ordered Ithaca Lost, the next up in the trilogy. I can’t wait!
I absolutely loved Ithaca Bound, the first in the Ithaca Time Travel Trilogy! This thrilling novel took me on a journey through Roman Britain, with all the adventure, danger, and excitement I could hope for.
The novel is a perfect mix of action and emotion, with plenty of heart-pumping moments and touching scenes of love and friendship. The corrupting influence of power is a central theme, and the author weaves it expertly into the story, adding depth and complexity to the characters and their motivations. I also loved the attention to detail with the historical elements. This was spot on.
Overall, Ithaca Bound is a must-read for anyone who loves time travel, historical fiction, or just a superb adventure story. The writing is wonderful, the plot gripping, and the characters engaging. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a thrilling read that will keep them on the edge of their seat until the very end!
In fact, so much did I love this novel that I’ve already pre-ordered Ithaca Lost, the next up in the trilogy. I can’t wait!
October 16, 2024
Honestly, I don't know how this book has such high reviews. The grammatical errors alone are enough to not want to finish the book. I did just because I like to know how things end but I couldn't bring myself to start the second one. That being said, I've read some pretty awful books just for the sake of finishing what I have started. This is one of those books. I wanted to finish it to see if any of it came together at any point, some redeeming scene where it makes sense. Nothing. Its just not good. The characters aren't really built up enough to care about, the "love" triangle doesn't even make sense because there isn't enough time for the characters to really build relationships (same goes for the "friendships"), the writing makes for very confusing scenes.. just really not good. There's enough intrigue in the beginning, mostly just scenes cut short to add to the "mystery", to keep you reading. But those cut scenes never let up which just make it annoying in the end. I see what the author was trying to do, and I would've loved to enjoy the book but I truly don't see how anyone could.
October 3, 2023
a fantastic story filled with mystery centered around newly discovered Roman ruins and the farm that has been inherited by an 'out of towner'.
The author mastery in creating mystery is found throughout the story, as this first book builds up the environment in Ithaca in modern day, as well as when the Romans occupied it several hundred years ago.
Certainly looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.
The author mastery in creating mystery is found throughout the story, as this first book builds up the environment in Ithaca in modern day, as well as when the Romans occupied it several hundred years ago.
Certainly looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.
October 5, 2023
Good story but lots of typos and grammatical errors. Also, a person from the 2020s cannot have a conversation in English with Romans and Celts from the 2nd century
January 12, 2024
SO Many Typos
Couldn’t finish this book. The typos were too distracting and the story not that good. Does this publisher even have an editor?
Couldn’t finish this book. The typos were too distracting and the story not that good. Does this publisher even have an editor?
August 31, 2024
Took me awhile to get into this one. I felt like nothing was resolved at the end. You’ll need to buy all three books, I think. I didn’t like it well enough.
November 18, 2024
"The mind is a powerful but underutilized tool."
This is very Outlander-esque.
This is very Outlander-esque.
May 29, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews