Time in the Air

Carolyn Hlus was a lecturer in English literature at the University of Alberta, Edmonton.

Rachel Wyatt’s fourth book of fiction, Time in the Air is a good fast bedtime read. Its plot is simple — it is the story of a travelling businessman who rounds off his life commuting between a wife in England and a mistress in Toronto. Complications arise when each of the women (of course, unknown to each other) decides to move across the Atlantic to the place the husband/lover apparently likes best. Sidney — er, Alex — who has “flown across the Atlantic four hundred and thirty one times” and has spent “roughly three thousand, three hundred and seventy three hours in the air” is suddenly face to face with a double-edged dilemma.

No wonder the air of time — both British and Canadian — thickens. Jill’s friend Serena sends her son to England. He, in turn, plants himself like a son in Alex’s English home and appropriates Alex’s — well, Zoe’s — car, just before Zoe leaves for Canada, noting en route that the boy bears a resemblance to her husband. Meanwhile, on arrival at Sidney’s English residence, Jill is met by Sidney’s two young sons, who mistake her for the woman hired to care for them. The action speeds up as one character lands in a Haitian hospital and another in a witches’ coven. Finally, everyone triumphs; even jet-lagged Sidney comes down from the air for a perfectly happy landing at... no, his final touchdown must remain a secret.

Time in the Air is witty, charming, and fun. Interestingly, in the tradition of Oscar Wilde, it makes a timely critical social commentary.