K
Kaliane Bradley
Kaliane Bradley is the author of The Ministry of Time, a novel that blends historical fiction with time travel. She is known for creating stories that are both smart and engaging.
The Ministry of Time
Synopsis
In a near-future London, a fledgling government department has learned to pull people out of the past. To test whether time travel is survivable, the Ministry recruits a handful of "expats" — historical figures plucked from moments just before their recorded deaths — and assigns each a "bridge," a civil servant tasked with helping them adjust to the twenty-first century.
The novel's narrator, the daughter of a Cambodian refugee, is paired with Commander Graham Gore, a real Victorian naval officer who died on the doomed Franklin Arctic expedition. As the two share a house through a strange, funny, tender year of cigarettes, Spotify, and slow adjustment, wary professionalism gives way to something deeper — even as it becomes clear that the Ministry's motives are not what they seem.
Kaliane Bradley's debut is at once a time-travel romance, a workplace comedy, and a spy thriller, and a sharp meditation on empire, complicity, and what we owe the people history leaves behind.
Genres
Characters
Commander Graham GoreProtagonist
A real Victorian naval officer pulled from the doomed Franklin expedition into the present day.
Margaret KembleSupporting
A Londoner extracted from the Great Plague of 1665, one of the Ministry's 'expats' living under its care.
Arthur Reginald-SmythSupporting
A British Army captain extracted from the Battle of the Somme in 1916, one of the Ministry's expats.
SimelliaSupporting
Another Ministry 'bridge' and behavioural scientist working alongside the narrator.
QuentinSupporting
The narrator's original handler at the Ministry of Time.
Goodreads Choice Award for Science Fiction (2024)
Frequently asked questions
Is the narrator of The Ministry of Time named?
No. The novel's protagonist and narrator, a British-Cambodian civil servant assigned as Commander Graham Gore's "bridge," is never given a name — a deliberate choice reflecting how her identity is shaped by the institution she works for.
Is Commander Graham Gore a real historical figure?
Yes. Graham Gore was a real Royal Navy officer who served on HMS Erebus during Sir John Franklin's 1845 Arctic expedition, which ended in the deaths of the entire crew. The novel imagines him rescued from the expedition just before his historical death and brought to present-day London.
Is The Ministry of Time part of a series?
No. The Ministry of Time is a standalone novel and Kaliane Bradley's fiction debut, published in 2024. No sequel has been announced.
What awards has The Ministry of Time won or been nominated for?
It won the 2024 Goodreads Choice Award for Science Fiction, and was a finalist for the 2025 Hugo Award for Best Novel and shortlisted for the 2025 Arthur C. Clarke Award. It was also longlisted for the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction and the 2025 Jhalak Prize.