Fifteen Postcards - Kirsten McKenzie

Published as an audiobook by Podium Audio, uploaded 21-07-2020.
First published 2015.
Narrated by Tracey Llewelyn.

This free audiobook caught my eye when I was browsing Audible, probably partially because it's series title is "The Old Curiosity Shop", which ties to my love of Dickens (a link that even the characters acknowledge). In this book, the first of that series, we follow Sarah Lester, who has become the owner/operator of the second-hand store 'The Old Curiosity Shop' following the mysterious disappearances of both of her parents. Sorting through a pile of postcards, Sarah suddenly finds herself transported back in time, taking on the identity of a maid in the home of Lord Grey. Just as she getting used to this life she ends up back in the present, only to later 'lump' into another life, then another and another... 

It's an interesting premise, and Sarah is an interesting protagonist in that she knows a lot about historical artifacts (it comes as no surprise to learn that the author herself has worked in an antiques store). This means that at times she is distracted from her surroundings by taking in a particularly exquisite wall hanging or Indian dagger, and throughout the story she begins 'acquiring' a number of pieces that somehow are transported back with her to the present day. 

This is something that does get confusing when you stop to think about it; each time Sarah returns to the present she is still dressed as the person she was, even carrying any item that they were carrying in the moment of her return. Yet, the character also carries on living in the past. Except that this doesn't always happen. In one particular instance not only Sarah's "host" disappears, but so does the person holding her arm at the time - which leads to complications in the 'present.' In the moment these discrepancies were not an issue, but the more I think back on the story the more they nag at me a little bit.

We get a number of different locations visited, including a trip to the early days of New Zealand as a colony - narrator Tracey Llewelyn (who seems to perhaps be Welsh) attempts a New Zealand accent for these parts, and doesn't really succeed, but it is a hard accent for foreigners to get! 

The book also ends on a cliffhanger.

I liked the book overall, but the more I think about it now the more issues I have with it.

Not sure whether I'll carry on.

Completed 3 November 2022.

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