She Treads Softly: The Time Has Come

Saturday, May 13, 2023

The Time Has Come

The Time Has Come by Will Leitch
5/16/23; 304 pages
HarperCollins

The Time Has Come by Will Leitch is a highly recommended character study following seven people leading up to a dramatic event when one of them has a psychological break and takes matters into her own hands. The story is set in Athens, Georgia and culminates at Lindbergh’s Pharmacy, a long established local store. The opening chapter gives readers insight into what may be happening in the future and then the intervening chapters introduce us to these people.

The characters are the star of the novel and all of them are portrayed as complex, realistic individuals. Characters include: Tina Lamm, a fourth grade teacher; Theo, the heir to the Lindbergh Pharmacy; Daphne, a nurse and military veteran; Dorothy, a widow trying to recover from her grief; Jason, a building contractor and concerned father; Karson, a lawyer who works at a nonprofit organization; David, a musician and recovering alcoholic.

The chapters fully establish these characters, with insight into their daily lives, concerns, and goals. You will care about these characters. The suspense builds as the final scene is carefully foreshadowed throughout the novel until you reach the culminating final scene where the diverse cast is all involved. The final encounter is expected, but the event itself is full of tension. The Time Has Come is an excellent choice for those who appreciate excellent character development in a suspense novel.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins via Edelweiss.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.