A Scientific Romance: A Novel

1997

It is 1999, and David Lambert, jilted lover and museum curator, is about to discover the startling news of the return of H. G. Wells’ time machine to London. Motivated by a host of unanswered questions and innate curiosity, Lambert propels himself deep into the next millennium. As he sets foot in the luxuriant but menacing new landscape, he soon begins to explore the ruins of his life, a labyrinth of erotic obsession and remorse involving his old friend Bird, and Anita—the beautiful, eccentric Egyptologist they both loved, mysteriously dead at thirty-two. A Scientific Romance is a book of surpassing creativity and intelligence, as evocative as it is cautionary.

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Honours

David Higham Prize
Editor’s Choice: The New York Times
A Book of the Year: Globe and Mail
A Book of the Year: The Sunday Times
A Book of the Year: The New York Times

Reviews

“Wright has come up with a treasure, a delightfully witty and suspenseful fantasy — in the rip-roaring tradition of the masters.”
Alberto Manguel, The Globe and Mail

“[A] virtuoso performance, an audacious leap… into the unknown… both beautifully realized and macabre…. This is an extraordinary novel, a brilliant synthesis of interpretive and imaginative elements, and, like the best fiction, a trenchant commentary on reality.”
The Financial Post

“Dazzling—A Scientific Romance is — poetic, sexy, satirical, [and] layered with rich bits from the author’s well-stocked mind.”
The Globe and Mail

“A ripping yarn packed with head-turning ideas…. [Wright] artfully uses the archeology of the future to satiric ends…. A Scientific Romance is a feast of a read, succeeding both as entertainment and a provocative parable of environmental limits.”
NOW

“… A powerful visionary core… few writers have imagined the future with such compelling and tragic urgency.”
Maclean’s

“Pure pleasure [and]—perfectly imagined…. A deeply seductive and brilliantly sustained piece of adventure writing—enthrallingly descriptive, [which] turns into a compelling cultural satire.”
The Observer

“In 100 years’ time this book should be a classic.”
The Guardian

“Rich and Gothic yet somehow innocent of irony: The novel works on all levels [and] its flair for description can be positively Dickensian. The result is a fresh take on an old formula—the dystopian post-apocalypse novel—and a profound meditation on the nature of time.”
The New York Times Book Review

“Cool, clever, and unsettling, A Scientific Romance [is] imaginatively created, richly detailed and at times effortlessly funny, [yet] bursting with rage at what is happening around us.”
The Australian Bulletin

“… gloriously bizarre plotline… Ronald Wright… plays slyly with his literary tradition in his impressive first novel.”
Sydney Morning Herald

“A magnificent achievement.”
The New Zealand Herald

“A triumph…The narrative bristles with fascinating characters, both functional and historical…J.G. Ballard explored this same territory in his disaster novels of the 1970s, but never with Wright’s psychological insight or pathos.”
Publishers Weekly

“A clever and elegant novel…The beautiful heart of the book is not with the details of time travel—mechanical or metaphysical—but with its grief-stricken hero, and an unforgettable vivid picture of London being submerged by jungle, beast and swamp.”
Mail on Sunday

“Keeps the reader hooked… An accomplished performance.”
The Independent

“Ambitious and entertaining… a heady mix of love story, prediction, satire and lyrical adventure.”
The Sunday Times

“Compelling…. Clearly there is a powerful environmentalist message to the novel, but Wright has constructed a narrative strong enough to carry it without strain…. [His] description of a deserted London overgrown with tropical vegetation is unforgettable … [Ronald Wright] brings to his construction a very rich understanding of history and anthropology.”
The Toronto Star

Format: Paperback, 320 pages
Publisher: Vintage Canada
ISBN-10: 0-676-97107-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-676-97107-1