Transported to the Past and I Forgot My Phone: Victorian Town by Nancy Thorne

Author Origin: Toronto, Ontario
Page Count: 188
Genre: YA fiction with a dash of mystery and romance
Difficulty: Easy
Grade Level: 9
Key Talking Points: Being able to change the past, friendship, the impact of the choices we make, American history and Victorian lifestyle.
Sensitive Subject Matter: Violence.

I was lucky enough to stumble upon Nancy Thorne at a little local craft festival this spring where she was promoting her books. I asked her to recommend one of her books for high school aged students, and she hooked me up with a copy of Victorian Town.

Summary: Set in Little Current, a kind of "anywhere" American city, Victorian Town tells the story of high school senior Abbey Parker as she accidentally transports herself back in time to 1876. She believes she must have been given this power for a reason and tries to uncover what mystery lurks behind the seemingly picturesque town that was the origins for her own. The innocently befuddled townspeople take her in and promise to try and help her find the "fone" she keeps asking for, despite her confusing dialect and her wearing of pants. Abbey is quickly swept away into the customs and charm of late 19th century America, while a new friend and a shy, but exceedingly handsome stranger make her reluctant to leave.   

First, let me say that I really enjoyed this book. I am often skeptical that I'll be able to get into first person YA books, and as Abbey is acting like a typical teen in the first chapter, lazing about and complaining about her family, I was a bit worried. However, as soon as Abbey is transported back in time, the narrative really takes off and easily takes you with it. In 1876, Abbey's American teen attitude clashes so wonderfully with Victorian culture that all of her stereotypical behaviours become fodder for great reactions from the locals. Her purple painted toenails are "the devil's work", after all.  But despite the fact that she is incredibly weird to them, the people around her are kind and welcoming, allowing her to get away with not changing herself too much in order to fit in.

The mystery at the center of the text is slow to uncover, but this allows it to be all the more surprising when it finally does. This also gives Abbey time to explore the world of Victorian Town (which is all she knows to call the place she is transported to), giving the reader a chance to enjoy the rich details of Victorian everyday life that Thorne has expertly incorporated into the narrative. None of the details seem to be there just to be there, if you know what I mean. There was never a point where I was bored or overwhelmed with the description, probably in part thanks to Abbey's perspective providing the details. She was genuinely interested in what she was seeing, and the reader is uncovering those details as she is, in a gradual and natural way, giving a vivid picture of the time period.

Another really nicely unexpected piece of this book has to do with how Thorne deals with the time travel trope at the heart of the narrative. Usually when someone is plopped into a different time period they spend a lot of time, if not the entire story, trying to figure out how to get back home. It dominates the plot. That is what I was expecting with Victorian Town, however, Abbey very quickly discovers how she was transported, and this gives her the power to move back and forth through time as she wishes. This allows the story to take a more interesting turn and gives Abbey control over her own impact on the past.

Something that bothered me throughout the text was the portrayal of Abbey's family. Her mother is an alcoholic who seems to only care about the money she spends on her daughter, her father is often absent and having affairs, her brothers stay away to avoid the chaos. They fight constantly with each other and Abbey does her best to avoid even the most casual interaction with any of them. None of them seem to notice her comings and goings, when she injures herself, or when her adventures in the past have strong impacts on her relationships and emotions in the present. I understand that this is necessary for her to be able to move as freely as she does in order to further the plot, but it is also very sad. The one person Abbey turns to is her best friend, another teen named Jess. However, their relationship, which as far as we know was rock solid until now, is suddenly fraught with jealousy and distrust. This opens the door for Abbey to make some key decisions towards the end of the text, but once again is rather sad. This seems to be a commentary on how our relationships in the modern world are fleeting and insubstantial, not created on any real foundations. I'm not sure if Thorne has done this intentionally, or if it just needed to happen to take the plot in the direction she wanted, but I was disappointed that Abbey didn't see any of the people in her life as particularly worth while.   

On the other hand, Abbey is quickly bonded to a number of characters in the past. Thorne describes this book, in part, as a romance, and there are romantic elements between Abbey and blacksmith Benjamin. Once again, though, I wish these were a little more fleshed out. Not that I expect 1876 to have a hopping dating scene, but in order for some of Abbey's choices later on in the text to be believable to me, I think I just needed a little more. That being said, Abbey is a teenage girl, and they aren't known for particularly well thought out decisions when it comes to love, and as the readers of the text would also, most likely, be teenage girls, they probably wouldn't see the same problems with the romance as I did. 

Teacher Note: This novel is well suited to a junior grade in high school, as the narrative is easy to follow and Abbey is a relatable and engaging protagonist. Told in the first person, students could easily connect to her frustrations with aspects of her family life, her feelings towards her best friend, and her reactions to the crazy situation she finds herself in. Abbey's journey can help teach kids a lot of lessons, most prominently to be open to new experiences, even if they feel uncomfortable at first.

In the book, Abbey and her best friend Jess do research on the people from Victorian Town using a research library and microfilm. It would be interesting to link this novel to a research project where students have to write a profile on a person from another time using different primary sources. Students could also choose a time period that interests them and then write their own creative piece about what it would be like to be transported back to that era to meet the person they researched. This could be done as a culminating unit assignment in a compulsory English course, a unit of study in a creative writing course, or could even be modified for use in a history course.

Final Thought: This book was full of lots of little surprises that added to my overall enjoyment of it.

While Nancy Thorne is Canadian, and much of her other writing has strong Canadian content, this novel is the exception. She is, however, currently working on another novel which will be Canadiana once again. To find out more about her other work and to keep and eye out for the new book, visit her website at: https://www.nancythorne.com/

📚 Ms. CAN Lit