The Book of Lost Hours

A sweeping, cinematic love story about memory and community for fans of The Ministry of Time, The Midnight Library and The Book Thief.

Nuremberg, 1938. Lisavet Levy's watchmaker father saves her from the Nazis by pushing her through a mysterious doorway. There, she discovers the Time Space - a vast, magical library where the memories of everyone who has ever lived are stored in books. Her father promises to follow, but he never comes.

Trapped in the library, she encounters timekeepers, who decide whose memories survive and whose are destroyed.

Lisavet tries to save as many memories as she can, but when she falls in love with a timekeeper, the whole course of history could be at stake...

Review

If you loved The Ministry of Time, you'll adore this! ― Sun On Sunday

A very unusual and special combination of gritty 1960s Cold War spy thriller, soaring fantasy and heart-rending romance. A captivating debut novel. ― Irish Independent

Gelfuso seamlessly blends elements of romance and fantasy into the twisty quest narrative, and packs excitement into every page. It's a delight ― Publishers Weekly

Book clubs, fans of Kaliane Bradley's The Ministry of Time, and readers who enjoy books about magical libraries will find much to enjoy and discuss in this intriguing novel ― Booklist

A love story that defies the boundaries of time, memory and reality -- Patti Callahan Henry

A meditation on time, memory, and history, encased in a heart-pounding, cold-war spy thriller, wound tight around a sweeping story of love, family, and fate, The Book of Lost Hours performs actual magic - time itself stops as it draws you in. An undeniable debut by a glittering new talent -- Daria Lavelle

There's a version of me, somewhere in another timeline, who never read The Book of Lost Hours, and I feel sorry for them. Hayley Gelfuso has written the kind of novel that doesn't just bend time - it stops it, folds it, and tucks a love letter inside. You don't read this book so much as vanish into it, and when you return, your heart is not the same as when you left. An astounding debut! -- Jamie Ford

I absolutely fell in love with this novel. Beautifully crafted and engaging, The Book of Lost Hours is an all-embracing novel focusing on family, relationships, principles and morality. ― LoveReading

About the Author

Hayley Gelfuso is an author and poet who works in the environmental non-profit sector. As a writer, she is drawn to stories of the wild and wonderful that are rooted in real world history and science. Her poetry about her experiences working in the conservation field has been published in the Plumwood Mountain Journal. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband.