Time Travel for Beginners

‘A quiet Sydney shop offers impossible journeys to those who need them most.’—The Australian, ‘the big books of 2026’

If you could revisit one moment in your life, what would it be?

On a bustling road in Sydney lies a nondescript storefront known simply as the Time Travel Agency. Inside, you’ll be welcomed by the smell of freshly brewed coffee, a selection of baked goods... and the question, Where in time do you wish to go?

The guidelines are simple: you can go whenever you wish into the past, and there’s no fear of altering the present. Have tea with Jane Austen, scream at a Beatles concert, witness the Olympics in ancient Greece. Perhaps a more personal trip? Visit your long-lost grandmother, recapture the heady days of your youth, return to the idyllic time when your teen was a babbling baby—or watch yourself make the one decision that changed everything.

Is it a hoax? And if it’s real, what’s the catch?

When single mother Anna is offered a job at the agency, she glimpses the possibility of happiness. Meanwhile, Teddy’s a customer hoping to untangle his recently imploded marriage. And Jade, who has a deeply buried secret, despises the agency for offering false hope.

In Jaclyn Moriarty’s incandescent novel, Anna, Teddy and Jade leap headlong into time, hurtling on a crash course towards one another. At turns entertaining and illuminating, Time Travel for Beginners explores the moments, big and small, that shape our destiny.

PRAISE FOR TIME TRAVEL FOR BEGINNERS:

‘A joyfully sad, quietly clever and loudly delightful time-travel novel. By turns a meditation on mourning, happiness and the deep truths of living. Time Travel for Beginners only gets more delicious with every read.’—Justine Larbalestier and New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfeld, co-authors of The Mortons

‘A truly amazing book! Time Travel for Beginners is absolutely gorgeous, smart, funny, deep, dreamy and perfect. And it comes together beautifully at the end. It left my heart full and happy.’—Rachel Cohn, New York Times bestselling co-author of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist

‘I could wish I wrote it but then I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of reading this truly extraordinary, exquisite novel. It’s both hilarious and heartbreaking, thoughtful and compelling. It’s hard for me (I’m the eldest) but I just have to say it, my sister is a literary genius.’—Liane Moriarty, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Here One Moment

‘Oh, my heart. This book is propulsive, funny, life-affirming and gave me all the feels. I dare you to read it and not fall absolutely in love.’—Colleen Oakley, USA Today bestselling author of Jane and Dan at the End of the World

‘Time Travel for Beginners is a very rare treasure. Funny and compelling and rich, it is also a wise reflection on regret and the ways we carry the past with us. It's absolutely magnificent.’—Kathryn Heyman, author of Fury

‘With her typical understated brilliance, Jaclyn Moriarty explores themes we all obsess over, of love, regret and forgiveness in a compelling, funny and ultimately redemptive story of interwoven lives.’—Laura Bloom, author of The Women and the Girls