A Bridge of Years

Wilson ( The Divide ) transforms a simple time travel novel into a moving reflection on love, despair and the resilience of the human spirit. Tom Winter is an alcoholic whose wife leaves him for a young environmental activist. In a desperate attempt to rebuild his life, Winter moves back to his hometown in the Pacific Northwest, into a 30-year-old house that is in incredibly good condition--although it has stood dormant for over a decade, no dust has gathered on any of the polished furniture. Winter can't believe his good luck: that is, until the cybernetic custodians of the house reveal themselves and beg for his help to repair the place, which serves as a time-bridge to New York, circa 1962. Despite the custodians' warning, Winter travels back to a New York that is still untouched by the Vietnam War, the Kennedy assassinations and AIDS. Among Greenwich Village's bohemian crowd he falls in love. Unfortunately, a murderous soldier from the future--also hiding in the past--discovers that Winter used the tunnel: the hunt leads back to the present and to an exciting, unexpected climax that proves Wilson is a magician indeed. (Sept.)