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Cover of The Book of Lost Hours

The Book of Lost Hours

by Hayley Gelfuso

🌶️fade to black·spoiler

Why Read This?

If you loved The Time Travellers Wife or The Midnight Library, this is your next obsession — a doomed romance set in a magical library of memories that will make you cry and then cry some more.

Synopsis

For fans of The Ministry of Time and The Midnight Library , a sweeping, unforgettable novel following two remarkable women moving between postwar and Cold War-era America and the mysterious time space, a library filled with books containing the memories of those who bore witness to history. Enter the time space, a soaring library filled with books containing the memories of those have passed and accessed only by specially made watches once passed from father to son—but mostly now in government hands. This is where eleven-year-old Lisavet Levy finds herself trapped in 1938, waiting for her watchmaker father to return for her. When he doesn’t, she grows up among the books and specters, able to see the world only by sifting through the memories of those who came before her. As she realizes that government agents are entering the time space to destroy books and maintain their preferred version of history, she sets about saving these scraps in her own volume of memories. Until the appearance of an American spy named Ernest Duquesne in 1949 offers her a glimpse of the world she left behind, setting her on a course to change history and possibly the time space itself. In 1965, sixteen-year-old Amelia Duquesne is mourning the disappearance of her uncle Ernest when an enigmatic CIA agent approaches her to enlist her help in tracking down a book of memories her uncle had once sought. But when Amelia visits the time space for the first time, she realizes that the past—and the truth—might not be as linear as she’d like to believe. The Book of Lost Hours explores time, memory, and what we sacrifice to protect those we love.

At a Glance

4.11 ★ Goodreads
Spice Level🌶️fade to black
Endingspoiler
PairingM/F
Romance Pacingslow burn

Top Tropes

star-crossed loversforbidden lovetime-crossed romance

Mood

enchantingbittersweetsuspensefulnostalgicheartbreaking

Book Details

Goodreads Rating

4.11 ★

Page Count

391 pages

Published

2025

Primary Genre

Historical Fantasy Romance

Pairing

M/F

POV

Multi-POV

Romance Pacing

Slow Burn

Cliffhanger

spoiler

Audiobook

Available

Yes

Format

Unabridged

Narrator

Carlotta Brentan

Tropes

RomanceMagicActionAngstWorld
Theme Constellation

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Mood & Vibe

Mood

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Characters

FMC: fierce protector sign in to unlock

Spice Details 🌶️

emotional intimacy sign in to unlock

attempted sexual assaultsuicide mentionparental deathmurderinfant deathwar violenceHolocaust referencesdepressiongriefteen pregnancyracismethnic discriminationgender discriminationgovernment censorship

World & Setting

Historical fantasy with magical realism elements sign in to unlock

Reading Context

A hard-won, emotionally devastating journey that rewards you with hope and the power of preserved memory sign in to unlock

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