The Girl Who Tried to Change History: A Novel

The Girl Who Tried to Change History presents us with questions about love, power, change, and destiny. At its offset, this appears to be a novel about writing wrongs during World War II through the magic of time travel. The story presents us with many turns and surprises along the way, it morphs into a tale of love, moral dilemma, hubris, family, sacrifice, and the friendship and profound connections between women across generations.Melissa Kaplan uses her knowledge and sincere respect for World War II era history and writes with a balance of realism and romanticism. She takes readers on a palpable journey back in time. We are immersed in the sites, sounds, and sensations of England on the brink of war while remaining firmly grounded in the knowledge of that war's outcomes.This book will remind you of our connectedness to the bigger picture, and the impact of our actions, big and small. It speaks to the challenges between choosing others over yourself and yourself over others, and how those choices loom particularly large in the lives of women and have for many generations.I highly recommend this debut novel and look forward to reading more of the author's works!

A travel through time and history, Melissa Kaplan asks us to imagine the what ifs of life, love and truth. While it covers the darkest time in world history, the story itself wasn’t unduly emotionally heavy. And while it is, on its face, a story about time travel, it doesn’t read like s I-fi. It is, however, sprinkled with plenty of thought provoking moments and nuggets of wisdom. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Can’t wait to see what this author does next.

If you are a fan of historical fiction, or really any fiction, you'll love The Girl Who Tried to Change History. It's the perfect summer book to read on the beach, by the pool, on a plane....well, you get the idea. It's a story about love in its many forms and how the choices and sacrifices made by others impact us today. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to read it again. It's a must read!

It captivated me in ways no other book has! The storyline is seamlessly woven together and the word choice is strikingly on point. Kaplan enables you to truly visualize WWII London while taking you on a journey that encompasses themes from today’s world and the past. Read it and see where it takes you!

In The Girl Who Tried to Change History, Melissa Kaplan gives us a novel that is equal parts time travel wish fulfillment, the discovery of family legacy, and a lovely, grounded (yet captivating) romance while delivering it all with an economy of language and precise prose that always work in service of the plot.As all engrossing stories do, it begins with a proposition that requires its heroine's suspension of disbelief, but page-by-page, as she accepts the invitation to travel back to one of history's most fraught periods to rescue some part of it for the future, she intersects with her own family's past in unexpected ways.For this reason, the stakes always feel real. I loved the meditation on how the most mundane, the most quotidian of our choices have implications that loom large and reverberate in our lives and the lives of those we meet, even briefly, for decades. I was deeply invested in the consideration the book asked me to make about responsibility and the license to take chances that you know will impact others, even to the point of heartbreak.This is the perfect read for any time, but atmospherically it especially lends itself to a window seat on a grey, rainy day, the perfect cup of tea by your side.