Repeating History [Kindle Edition]

M. M. Justus (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In 1959, 20-year-old college dropout Chuck McManis is strolling the geyser boardwalks in Yellowstone National Park when an earthquake plunges him more than eighty years back in time, into the middle of an Indian war. And into his own past – to become the great-grandfather he’d idolized since he was a boy.

The problem was, nobody’d ever told him every single story about his hero was a lie. That he’d need instructions for sheer survival. Or lessons in escaping from Indians. He does know he can’t abandon Eliza Byrne, the woman who taught him both. By the time they struggle back to civilization, 1870s style, Chuck has discovered courage and competence he never knew he possessed. Then comes the risk, and the opportunity, to fulfill the legacy he’d left for himself the last time around, and he must face decisions he never wanted to make, that could cause him to lose not only his own life and that of the woman he loves, but to destroy his own future before it ever had a chance to be.

From the Back Cover

What would you do if a geyser catapulted you back in time, into the middle of an Indian war? 20-year-old college dropout Chuck McManis gets to find out. The hard way. By the time he escapes to civilization, 1870s-style, he discovers his new life has changed him forever. But he has to risk everything to earn the chance to stay, or lose everything he has become and everyone he loves.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 608 KB
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005E8S8UM
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #470,510 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

My first visit to Yellowstone National Park was at age four. I'm told it snowed on us on the Fourth of July while we were there. I spent most of my childhood summers in the back seat of a car, traveling with my parents to almost every national park west of the Mississippi and a great many places in between.

Writing has always been an integral part of my life, from childhood journals and stories on to the six manuscripts that preceded Repeating History. I have a bachelor's degree in British and American literature and history, a master's degree in library science, and a certificate in museum studies. I used to be a reference librarian, aka a professional dilettante. I am currently working as an independent museum curator and writing the sequel to Repeating History, set during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898.

Other things I love include quilting, gardening, meteorology, and the travel bug I inherited from my father, including multiple trips back to my favorite Grand Geyser and the rest of Yellowstone. I live on the rainy side of the Cascade mountains, within easy reach of my other favorite national park, Mt. Rainier.

I am a member of Women Writing the West, the Washington Museum Association, and the Geyser Observation and Study Association.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A GRAND yarn you can't put down, September 25, 2011

By 

Janet Chapple - See all my reviews

This review is from: Repeating History (Kindle Edition)

Having read Meg Justus's manuscript four years ago, I was not sure I was ready to reread the e-book version. But by the time I had read a couple of chapters, I was drawn into the story again--even though I knew how it would turn out. Was it just because I know and love Yellowstone Park and some of its history, or was this really a very good book?

Meg is skilled at drawing the reader into the place and the story and at creating a "can't put it down" type of book. There's a plethora of action, and the dialog makes you feel you are right there.

It's hard to categorize this book, but I guess it could be called paranormal historical science fiction; that about covers it but does not tell you how well thought out and carefully written it is. I could not help but smile when I realized Meg's story reminds me of a 1947 popular song by Latham and Jaffe, "I'm My Own Grandpa," which drew on a Mark Twain anecdote.

In short, Repeating History is a fascinating yarn that you know cannot be true, but you willingly suspend judgment as Meg carries you along. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel.

And it certainly does qualify as a very good book!

Janet Chapple, [...]

4.0 out of 5 stars An Imaginative Twist on Time Travel, January 21, 2012

By 

E. B. (Kansas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Repeating History (Kindle Edition)

Repeating History is the story of a young man who travels to Yellowstone on his motorcycle and is there when the 1959 earthquake hits. The "Jolt" sends him back into time to 1877 to become his own great-grandfather. Nicknamed Chuck in modern times, Charles McManis discovers the name is unheard of by the people he meets in 1877, so he becomes Charley. He meets his future wife, his great-grandma whom he vaguely remembers as a child, who is traveling with a husband and a young sister as tourists to the park. Charley is without food, shelter, or any means of travel except on foot (the bike didn't come with him) and so is invited to travel with them. The Nez Perce, who in 1877 did capture some tourists after fleeing soldiers who'd nearly wiped them out in a place called Big Hole, Montana, capture the woman and young girl, shooting the husband and leaving him for dead. Charley follows on foot and catches up to the Indians holding the woman and girl. The Nez Perce don't hold them for long, but the struggle to get to civilization and great-grandmother Eliza's home looms large and of course the husband was left back there along the trail and in her mind he needs a proper burial. But he's not dead yet.

Although I'm probably mostly right brained and have written a time travel story myself where the impossible becomes possible, my left brain couldn't help but ponder the consequences of becoming your own great-grandfather and it (my left brain) keep looking to the future and the questions piled upon questions which weren't resolved in the end, but may be in a sequel on down the road.

Meg Justus loves Yellowstone and its history, I look for her one day to write non-fiction stories and articles about the park, one of her favorite, if not her very favorite place in the world.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Collision of Worlds, November 25, 2011

By 

Kay Carrasco - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Repeating History (Kindle Edition)

My two readerly favorites--history and science fiction--combine beautifully in Meg Justus's novel Repeating History. Lest you think this is the more common type of SF/H collision, alternate history, let me assure you it's not. Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce do not escape to Canada, for instance, nor does time traveler Charley McManus's presence seem to alter the known flow of time or events. No, this is a more clever and imaginative blend: it allows its history to be firmly real and accurate and undisturbed, and yet observed and experienced through the eyes of a modern-era young man.

I particularly appreciated the characterizations. Even peripheral characters are well realized, and none of the 1870's characters fall into the too-common historical fiction trap of speaking or behaving in ways that are jarringly anachronistic. Ms. Justus deftly avoids that pitfall, using the natural contrasts in the attitudes of each era to add drama and interest to the story in believable ways. Pacing and plotting are expert, with few loose ends. The dialogue feels natural and the prose, particularly in the landscape descriptions, is vivid and lovely, as Yellowstone deserves.

I'm sure I will re-read Repeating History, as I rather galloped through it the first time, always drawn to what's next? what's next?! and I think it's worth a slower-paced appreciation. Very, very well done!