When 12 year old Roxanne Bonaventure is given a mysterious gift by an old woman she stumbles upon who was dying in the woods near her boarding school, she couldn't begin to imagine the life that it would lead to. The silver bracelet, Sofia, that fastens itself to her wrist gives her the ability to travel through space and time, not only in her own reality, but also in alternate or parallel realities. With the help of her scientist father she soon masters its use and begins exploring.

As she becomes more familiar with the possibilities before her she begins to consider if she is restricted to visiting the kind of realities she considers "normal" or if it could be possible to visit fictional worlds. Soon she finds herself jumping from the fast to the future, meeting H.G. Wells, becoming (however briefly) a sort of Lara Croft/Indiana Jones character and even starts to wonder if there could be a world where Cheshire cats vanish and playing cards play croquet.

Although, when she first received the Sofia, Roxanne used the bracelet for her own personal gain she eventually saw the possibilities that were before her to help others but a particularly painful experience surrounding the death of her father made it clear that some things are just destined to happen and should not be changed.

Here, There & Everywhere is a wonderfully compelling story. I have read many novels based on a similar premise and can honestly say that this is one of the very best. As a fan of TV programmes such as Quantum Leap, Doctgor Who and Sliders I am used to temporal travellers generally wanting to just "put things right" so it was quite refreshing to meet a character who initially used the gift for her own entertainment and personal gain. Let's be honest here, is there one of us who can truly claim that they wouldn't be tempted to travel forward in time, discover winning lottery numbers or a rising shares price and then return back to our own reality and make a few well-informed investments?

As with Quantum Leap I particularly enjoyed the chapters where Roxanne interacted with a variety of famous/fictional characters - a personal favourite being the Indiana Jones-style encounter with Nazis seeking an ancient Egyptian source of magical power.

Overall this is a superb novel that is fast moving, entertaining and a must for anyone who has ever wondered "What If?" I have been fortunate enough to read some wonderful books so far this year and this one is up there with the very best. There are not many authors I can think of who could include aspects of String Theory within a fictional novel and get away with it!

Synopsis
When Roxanne Bonaventure is eleven years old, a dying woman gives her a gift that changes her life utterly, making her a singular creature, with no analogue or equivalent. With the strange device called the "Sofia", she is granted the ability to travel anywhere in space and time, not only through times that were and will be, but also through the worlds that could have been and might someday be. From that day forward, no place or time can contain her, no danger can assail her, no mystery can elude her. From the deepest secrets of the past to the furthest flung visions of the future, Roxanne's life knows no boundaries except those she can imagine. But such power comes at a price: the life she might have led is forever lost to her, twisting away among the infinite threads of the Myriad. Roxanne finds herself isolated, unable to make lasting, meaningful relationships with friends, family, or strangers.

Here, There & Everywhere is the story of one woman searching for herself, and for someone with whom to share her life. It is one story, and many stories - the jigsaw puzzle of a life, from youth to old age, projected against the backdrop of everything that ever was, might have been, and may yet be. Roxanne's adventures take her from Victorian England to Ancient Egypt, from the End of Time to the birth of The Beatles. Along the way, she encounters every method of time travel theoretically possible: Visser Wormholes and Tipler Cylinders; a mysterious substance called chronium; and the slow and steady path we all take, moving forward one day at a time. And somewhere in the endlessly splitting paths of the Myriad lies the secret of Roxanne's own life, her future and her past, woven together into an eternal braid.