Before she discovers the hazards of time travel, Oates's defiant heroine learns the hazards of pushing the envelope in her restrictive future world—she's sent back 80 years to Wainscotia, WI. She can't keep herself from questioning constraints there, too, or falling in love with another exile, never mind that she's supposed to be rehabilitating herself. With a 50,000-copy first printing.

In a dystopian United States after 9/11, Adriane Strohl is named valedictorian of her high school class. Before she can deliver her valedictory address, she's arrested for treason, having asked questions rather than staying within approved limits for her speech. Because Adriane is only 17, she's exiled—transported—to a college in Wainscotia, WI—in the 1950s. She's given a new name, and a chip is implanted in her brain to prevent her from disclosing information from the future, to muddle her memory of her previous life, and to keep her under surveillance. Adriane struggles to understand what has happened to her, abide by the rules for exiles, and gain something from her college experience. When she discovers that her psychology professor is also an exile, they form a bond, but then he suggests they escape to California, with devastating results. Multi-award-winning author Oates creates a world in which cherished American freedoms have disappeared and technology has risen to include time travel. And in the end, the will to survive outweighs the search for truth. VERDICT Readers of dystopian fiction will enjoy wrapping their minds around this story. [See Prepub Alert, 5/14/18.]—Joanna Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Libs., Providence

Oates's eerie dystopian novel (following Beautiful Days) is set both in New Jersey circa 2039 and in Wisconsin in 1959. In 2039, 17-year-old Adriane Strohl, who narrates, is to be her graduating class's valedictorian. Doing well in school is encouraged, but doing too well can get you noticed by the authorities in the "True Democracy" of the North American States (NAS), where equality is nominally espoused though not truly enacted (people of color and women are given decidedly short shrift). After Adriane's outspoken commencement speech, she's arrested by Homeland Security for treason and ultimately cast out of modern society and teleported to 1959 Wisconsin, where she's to attend Wainscotia State University as Mary Ellen Enright and be reeducated in the hope that she can eventually return to her own time. She's told she will be under constant surveillance and must never reveal her true identity. There, she becomes convinced that her psychology instructor, Dr. Ira Wolfman, is a fellow exile. As she falls for Wolfman, she begins to question everything about the restrictive world she left. Oates weaves a feeling of constant menace and paranoia throughout as Adriane struggles to remember her old life and adjust to her new one. The conclusion is surprising and ambiguous, leaving readers to question their own perception of events, making for a memorable novel. (Nov.)