Victorian London vividly depicted complete with intriguing plots, counterplots, Jack the Ripper, a talking hallucinogenic spider, and a shadowy subculture of shape shifters. If somehow you still don’t think that’s enough, then toss in time travel, lots of suspense, and a love triangle. What do you end up with? Why nothing less than a surefire recipe for success in the form of the novel, Sojourn, by Jana G. Oliver.

Sojourn is a fascinating as well as a fun read. Jana G. Oliver has certainly done her homework on everything from Pompeii to Victorian Age London, and Jack the Ripper, that notorious serial killer. Ms. Oliver deftly weaves her fiction with fact. One gets the feel, the smell, and the sights of times now long gone. Yet Sojourn is anything but a dry, docudrama-type novel. Instead,Sojourn soars, using intimate details of the times to paint vibrant and exciting settings. It has a story that carries the reader along from beginning to end. Sojourn leaves one gasping for air, breathless.

Jacynda Lassiter, “Cynda,” is a Time Rover for TIC (Time Immersion Corporation), a company in 2057 A.D. that for profit sends tourists and academics on trips through time. Time Rovers such as Cynda are facilitators and act sometimes as police when problems arise, such as when travelers are tempted to overstay their visits and need to be forced to return to their own periods.

Cynda, a misfit in her own time, estranged from her family, is ill at ease with herself in many ways. She can’t seem to find a place or time where she “fits” in. Her problems compound when TIC, without the usual wait for a Rover’s recovery after a time trip, sends her packing off to Victorian London to retrieve a recalcitrant academic. And this when a singed Cynda is only just returned from a volcanic Pompeii!

From the very start, Cynda’s new trip is fraught with problems. She seems to somehow arrive almost a month too late, putting her right at the time of Jack the Ripper’s murders. This places Cynda in danger, because the killings arouse the local police and mob’s suspicions of anyone who acts a little strange or different. As a result, she dares not draw attention to herself. Cynda becomes too friendly with certain of the natives, specifically Alistair, a shape shifting doctor to the poor of the East End, and Jonathon, a shape shifting undercover policeman hunting for anarchists. Both find her attractive, as she does them.

Not only is Cynda saddled with the problem of finding her lost tourist, but she discovers another Time Rover, Chris, has somehow disappeared into the depths of Victorian London. Cynda’s feelings about Chris are more than just casual, for they are sometime lovers. She determines to find him, her tourist, and ultimately, Chris’ tourist, who also is stranded there somewhere.

To compound her problems even more, TIC is failing financially. To make a fast profit, it endangers its agents, including Cynda, with risky expeditions. The catch is that TIC may choose not to pay for the cost of their retrieval, thus stranding them permanently in the past. Only Ralph, her friend in 2057 A.D. can possibly save Cynda if this should happen, but can he? Will he?

As if all this weren’t enough, a shadowy conclave of shape shifters is busy with its own agenda, and is moving against her friend, Alistair. Jonathon is involved in this. What’s more, with Jack the Ripper committing killings, it is unsafe for Cynda, a lone woman, to skulk about the streets of Whitechapel at night, which she must do in order to find the lost tourists and Chris.

Then there is the problem of the identity of the Ripper. Could it be Alistair, the do-good doctor? Cynda must navigate her way safely through these problems and find the solutions to all these questions if she is to win the day. The odds seem stacked against her and only time will tell.

There is more to Sojourn, much more, but because of the suspense and mysterious nature of this novel, I can’t divulge it here without giving away things best left for the reader to discover themselves. Suffice it to say that I found Sojourn an exciting and stunning read. If I had any problems with this story by Jana G. Oliver, it is that I wanted more. Who is the mysterious man in cape and hat that appears and disappears? Who is Jack the Ripper? And more importantly, does that talking spider ever go away? See what I mean? This book cries out for a sequel! Read Sojourn by Jana G. Oliver. You can’t go wrong. It will be a wise and fun investment in your time.

© 2006
Rob Shelsky