"Marta Moran Bishop’s The Between Times is a terrific allegory, until the sucker punch. You think you’re reading a dystopian story set in some future time. Then you suddenly realize Bishop is writing about right now. The Between Times is a period in which we still have a chance to save all we hold dear. Fail to marshal our collective powers, and we fail as a society, a culture, as a nation-state, and the beacon to the world that America has always been is snuffed, never to be reignited.
Penned with all the visceral indictments of Sinclair’s The Jungle, we admire and pity Ben, fear for Jewell, grieve Roxanne, and loathe Mr. Horton and his kind. There is a cliffhanger ending that made me need to know more. Will the uprising in The Between Times save us? This series would make fascinating movies." (Robert Blake Whitehill, author/screenwriter, The Ben Blackshaw Series)
A CHILLING TALE
Marta Moran Bishop's The Between Times, described by the author as a "cautionary tale" is expressly written for these politically divisive times. While some may see this book as a fable or an interesting paranormal tale, Moran Bishop gets way too close for comfort.
The Between Times, set in Chicago, is the story of a society where the rich and poor are separated, but not just by neighborhoods. The rich own the poor; they control every facet of their lives, and the poor live by strict and unfathomable rules.
I will not attempt to summarize any further, as a synopsis is available, but instead, to recommend this thought-provoking story. I applaud Marta Moran Bishop for her insight, courage, and heart.
Fantastical, Magical, & Mystical
What if...for the first time in the history of the United States we took a social and economic nose dive into oblivion? THE BETWEEN TIMES is just such a scenario. A story that reads like a folk tale from the past, but in reality is a fantastic possibility based on the choices available to us today.
The premise is nothing short of an incredible imagination as modern day Chicago fades into an evil darkness separated by a wall. A separateness ruled by the upper society that isolates and mistreats the poor. These less fortunate people, in a short amount of time find themselves forced to live in the lower communities suffering from mistreatment comparable only to the concentration camps during WWII. Women are no longer human beings, but are nothing more than breeding animals kept only to prevent extinction of the race. The conditions are bleak and seemingly hopeless.
It is the belief in a Legend that becomes the driving force behind the survival. A young girl named Jewel, living in the captivity of this devastating socioeconomic environment, is the dream. She manifests hope and magic from within this beautiful tale.
Fantastical, Magical, & Mystical in a story that will make you believe it is about a long forgotten past, but in reality is a possible future! I wholeheartedly recommend this remarkable highly imaginative novel!
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