Book Description
Baezy is born in 2069, the centennial of the legendary Woodstock Music and Art Fair. Everything peace, love, and flower power is celebrated that year in a wave of nostalgia that takes over fashion, music, and the public’s imagination. She grows up listening to and loving the artists of that time, dreaming of witnessing everyone from Joan Baez to Santana in person. When presented with the opportunity to time-travel, Baezy immediately chooses Woodstock as her destination. She plans to enjoy a glorious weekend of vibrant sights and sounds; her bell bottoms and a peasant blouse are packed for the adventure and she’s excited to surprise her great-great-great-grandmother, Kelly Adams.
While Baezy’s certainly not a typical Woodstock attendee, Kelly isn’t either. She is at the very beginning of a stellar career researching artificial intelligence in the 1960s, and will later develop much of what will lead to the utopian society Baezy lives in. Kelly’s future family is immensely proud of her historic accomplishments.
The contrast between Baezy’s 2101 and 1969 is stunning from her first moment. Woodstock exceeds her wildest expectations, but holds far more than an introduction to her distant grandmother. Baezy quickly finds herself in life-altering situations she could never have anticipated.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220605667-anywhen?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=J1xDbP33VR&rank=1
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
ANYWHEN by Beth Duke is a mash-up of genres; time travel, historical fiction, romance, and sci-fi all centered around time traveler, Baezy, who assumes the name and identity of Sarah while in the past.
Baezy was born in 2069, which is the centennial of the legendary Woodstock Music Festival and is named after the singer Joan Baez. Baezy is excited that for her birthday in 2101, her mother has arranged a three day TIP (Time Insertion Protocol) for her to travel back to Woodstock in the year 1969 not only for the live performances she has studied and loves, but to also meet her three times over grandmother on her maternal side, Kelly Adams, who was a brilliant mathematician at MIT and an originator of AI.
While Baezy’s time insertion does not go exactly as planned, she is able to find the group of six that have gone to Woodstock together including Kelly. Baezy is very excited to meet Kelly, but their interactions lead to problems. Her naivety, beauty, and lack of complete understanding of 1969 slang and sayings leads her into conflict with Kelly’s group except for Jack, who is a teacher and sympathetic to Baezy’s differences. Baezy hopes to avoid the others and just enjoy the rest of the Woodstock performances with Jack, but every decision she makes could lead to future changes she could never anticipate.
I enjoyed the mixed genre plot throughout this story very much. The time travel, the futuristic Unity and the historic Woodstock, also with discussions of the Vietnam war were all well written. Unity may have no war or hunger, but it is still not a future I would hope for. The scenes of Woodstock are entertaining and nostalgic. I loved Baezy and her emotional awakening and evolution throughout the story, it was Kelly and the females in the travel group that I found immature for their ages and off-putting, so much so that I almost put the book down for good. I am glad I carried on though for the remainder of Baizy’s storyline.
This is a story that will capture many differing types of genre readers and satisfy them all.
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About the Author
Beth Duke is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author and the recipient of numerous honors for her fiction on two continents.
She is eyeing the other five.
Her book TAPESTRY was the Bronze Medal Winner in Southern Fiction in Publishers’ Weekly’s 2020 Readers’ Choice Awards, an Award-Winning Finalist in the 2020 International Book Awards, and a Five Star Readers’ Favorite Award Winner.
Beth lives in the mountains of her native Alabama with her husband, Jay, and an assortment of dogs—including a recently-rescued coonhound named Daisy who has stolen her heart. Beth is the adoring and proud mother of Jason and Savannah. She is a constant reader, travel aficionado, and likes to pretend she’s in baking competitions.
She also finds great joy in joining book clubs for discussion (usually via Zoom). If your group would like to schedule a date, please email beth@bethduke.com.
Her books DELANEY’S PEOPLE, DON’T SHOOT YOUR MULE, IT ALL COMES BACK TO YOU, TAPESTRY, and DARK ENOUGH TO SEE THE STARS are all love letters to her home state.
Social Media Links
Website: https://www.bethduke.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bethidee
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onlythebethforyou/
