The general is surveying his encampment at Valley Forge when an unlikely aurora borealis seems to knock him out. He awakens in a boxcar out west and manages to find Tim and Matt, two grad students confused and kind enough to help him. Once they’ve realized who he is – Matt, a young black man, leery of the slave-owning plantation owner – the pair do their best to unravel how he arrived and how to get him back. Along the way, they each share experiences of their own times: Tim explaining the modern world; Matt explaining history since Washington’s day, pressing him on the issues of slavery and imperialism. About one-third of the way through, a key shift transforms the narrative from a laid-back fish-out-of-water time travel tale to a low-key spy thriller, as it becomes clear that larger forces are aware of Washington’s presence. The narrative picks up the pace and ratchets up the tension, and the threads of time travel, espionage, baseball, race, and colonialism weave tighter as the plot barrels towards an action-packed climax.

Bill Zarchy’s FINDING GEORGE WASHINGTON is compelling and effective in following all these threads. Real study and real love come through at every turn: it savors precise historical detail; the heroes turn Washington (and the reader) into fans and aficionados of modern baseball; confusion and suspicion prompt discussion of colonial-era and modern spycraft. Fortunately the content never overwhelms the language itself. The pacing is light and fast, and the confident, flexible prose manages to drive that pace while also conveying its boundless enthusiasm for information. A train ride takes up a fair portion of the plot, and the narrative itself seems similar: a wide world viewed through bright windows as the protagonists speed through. The text does badly fumble a romantic subplot (unnecessary, rushed, and disrespectful of an underwritten female character); at times it lacks a focus on tone and style (modern characters sometimes lapse into archaic constructions, or deliver expository information in monologues that don’t at all convey character); its history is accurate but sometimes underestimates the past (George Washington is “taught” five-hundred-year-old tricks about invisible ink and substitution ciphers); but it handles its core competencies well.

FINDING GEORGE WASHINGTON has at its heart the evils of racism and colonialism. It boldly confronts this important territory: in nearly the first scene between Washington and a contemporary black American the issue of slavery arises, and the pair keeps engaging throughout their adventures. The text offers some historical detail to illustrate the personal and economic complexities of colonial-era slavery, along with remarks on how slaveholding states wielded outsized political power from the start of the new nation. This is good material in and of itself, although it doesn’t always feel like it connects; there’s a focus on historical events and modern prejudices that doesn’t fully illustrate how modern systems of oppression operate. Nevertheless, FINDING GEORGE WASHINGTON makes the choice to confront these problems, and shows itself respectful and well-informed throughout.

Sprightly and fun in structure, but with big themes and solid research underpinning it, FINDING GEORGE WASHINGTON will please readers of soft science fiction, light spy thrillers, or popular history.

~Dan Accardi for IndieReader