Querying

THE BOOK OF HOURS

When environmentalist Jacaranda James travels 20 years into the past and assumes her 22-year-old identity in Paris, she must reboot her relationship with her dead mother and reconnect with the younger version of her soon-to-be-ex husband – all in order to ensure her daughter’s existence. But after she accidentally boomerangs to the future, can she get back in time to save her true love’s life? Complete at 78,000 words, THE BOOK OF HOURS would sit comfortably on a shelf with Emma Straub’s THIS TIME TOMORROW and Matt Haig’s THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY.

An “engrossing, well-written time travel tale that somehow manages to be a charming coming-of-age story and, at the same time, a wistful, thoughtful meditation on love, aging, intimacy, regret, and the body. Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff dips in and out of the past with ease and skill.” - Charles Yu, author of INTERIOR CHINATOWN

Why I wrote this book: In 1994, I was an au pair in Paris. When I returned in 2018 with my teenaged daughter, I was fascinated to discover how much remained unchanged. This book is for those of us who fantasize about going back in time to fix our mistakes — like, everyone.

THE WET SEASON

Two former best friends reconnect at a moment of crisis and escape to a Central American eco paradise to flip a house, where Belinda builds back her shattered self-image and Celeste explores her queer identity. But when Celeste discovers a looming threat to reproductive rights and that her fixer-upper was once a medication abortion clinic, she and Belinda must address their conflicting memories of the past and competing visions for the future to preserve their friendship – unaware that their lives are also at stake. Complete at 77,000 words, THE WET SEASON shares DNA with the power dynamics and subversive speculative elements of Kevin Wilson’s NOTHING TO SEE HERE and the unlikely collaborators and tropical island setting of Swan Huntley’s THE GODDESSES.

“THE WET SEASON has its own gravitational pull and I was sucked into orbit immediately. Celeste and Belinda are unforgettable. As they run away from the chaos of their own lives, they run toward each other. And I was running right there along with them — a captivating, breathless reading experience.” - Allison Macy-Steines, writer and poet

Why I wrote this book: I am fascinated by the power of female relationships -- platonic, romantic, and the gray areas in between. This narrative became a repository for my feelings about sustainability and reproductive rights, and I wrote the book for readers who dream of chucking it all to go on an adventure. Who hasn't?

Do you like positive news delivered monthly(ish) to your inbox? Sign up for my free Good Newsletter and get full access to the publication archives. I also post on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn. Let’s connect there or Rachel(at)LincolnSarnoff.com. Talk soon!