My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time by Liz Jensen

This book was a lot of fun, though somewhat predictable. Young Charlotte lives in Copenhagen in the late 19th century. She's a prostitute, a schemer, comically paired with the porcine Fru Schleswig (who may or may not be her mother). The duo struggle to make ends meet, with Charlotte constantly on the lookout for a good grift. When she takes a job with a wealthy widower, she gets more than she could have imagined. Fru Krak is an uppity socialite who's soon to be married to a preacher. Charlotte is brought in to clean the house in preparation for the nuptials. As with any Gothic mansion, there are rooms that Charlotte is told must be strictly avoided...

But of course, with much sneaking and bumbling, Fru Schleswig and Charlotte find themselves behind those locked doors in those forbidden rooms, and discover the secret of Fru Krak's husband's demise. He's invented a time machine and has been happily selling tickets to all Danes interested in traveling into the Great Beyond (which turns out to be present-day London). Charlotte and Fru Schleswig cris-cross time, finding love, food, and vacuum cleaners. Charlotte must make a painful decision: stay in the present with a new found love, or return to the past and her scheming ways in order to keep the time portal open.

In the end, there are few twists or surprises, as this is truly a Gothic novel. There's little in the way of suspense, but much to be found in the historical anachronisms (Charlotte serves as the narrator, and is pitch perfect for turn of the century mysteries). All in all, a fun read that I would recommend to anyone who's a fan of Neil Gaiman.