Location location location!

[Kate]

Chicago is a very important aspect of the novel - some have even called it a character in its own right. In an interview, the author mentioned using real locations to help ground the novel, which is in other ways fantastical. Did this work for you? If you've been to Chicago, did it feel right? If not, did it make you want to visit?

[Bailey]

I also liked that she grounded the novel in time, for it being a novel about being so displaced from time. That was a good foil to all the jumping about within time, and helped me know where Henry & Clare were at in their lives more than the at-first-confusing time/date stamps littered between narrative moments.

It was strange and off-putting, but so necessary, to read about September 11, 2001 from Henry & Clare's life; it was great to see Henry & Clare seeking medical innovation on Henry's behalf, and Alba being diagnosed with a genetic disorder that has a name. That made the more fantastical elements more real to me.