The Time Machine is a slim classic by an author who is seen by many as the founding father of science fiction and a visionary who predicted the advent of super highways, overcrowded cities and television broadcasts long before they became a reality.
H G Wells was born in Bromley in 1866. He was the third son of domestic servants, and did not have an easy path to success. After a spell as an apprentice to a draper and a period teaching, he won a scholarship to do a science degree in London, which he did not finish.
Wells’s colourful life included a short marriage to a cousin and various mistresses on whom he based many of his female characters. He also featured the places where he lived in his novels, including Sevenoaks, where at least part of The Time Machine was written in during a spell in lodging in Eardley Road.
The Time Machine, (published in 1895) was Wells’ first book, but he went on to write many others, including The War of the Worlds (set in Woking) and The Invisible Man. He lived to be eighty, and in an active life he was still broadcasting his visions for the future - with titles such as Whither Britain – for the BBC well into the 1930s. These original recordings are still available from the British Library shop.
If you haven’t already read The Time Machine, pick up your copy from Sevenoaks library, and let us know what you think at
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Do you think H G Wells was right about his vision of the future?
August's book: The Island by Victora Hislop
The Island by Victoria Hislop follows a young woman’s quest to discover her mother’s mysterious past. She travels to Crete where she uncovers a story of tragedy and passion set on the real-life island leper colony, (now deserted) of Spinalonga.
It was a tale that gripped Margaret, from Westerham, from the outset. Like many, she was startled to learn that leprosy has occurred so recently in Europe but she also felt that the author took her readers into the hearts and minds of the characters: “The storyline is brilliant as it is in the form of a family saga and one begins to identify with the Cretans and their lifestyle. The passions, emotions, hardships during the German occupation and the grit of their personalities to overcome the many problems are all there.”
Mary from Sevenoaks enjoyed the novel and found it a great holiday read, but felt that the best character was the island of Spinalonga itself, a haunting place which the author captured very well: “Having visited Spinalonga I was really gripped by the sadness of the place, but I did feel the plot dragged in places, and the characters for me lacked depth”.
June's book: Innocent Traiter by Alison Weir
Innocent Traitor, by Alison Weir, was chosen to coincide with the author’s successful appearance at Sevenoaks library in May. At first glance it seemed a very similar choice to our previous book, The Other Boleyn Girl. They are both dramatised accounts of the lives and times of tragic young women at the royal court, written by genuine historical scholars. However, Innocent Traitor was Alison Weir’s first foray into historical fiction, and this came across in her style of writing.
According to Rebecca, from Sevenoaks, “I knew very little about the life of Lady Jane Grey and this book filled in all the gaps, and also added a huge amount of detail about life in Tudor England.”. Readers enjoyed the use of multiple narrative voices in the book, as Sevenoaks reader Tessa pointed out: “The story is seen from the viewpoints of all the central characters which makes you feel more involved with them and come to understand what motivates them. Reading it felt like delving into a piece of proper history”.
The book was probably best summed up by Liz, from Edenbridge: “Anyone who knows the story of Lady Jane Grey knows that it is a sad one with a tragic outcome. Alison Weir captures this poignancy in her portrayal of Jane to such great effect that no matter how well you know the story, you start to hope that the inevitable ending will not come.”
