Time's a Thief

“Time’s a Thief is a terrific coming-of-age novel: B.G. Firmani perfectly captures the innocent longing and more complicated striving of a young person on the cusp of her adulthood.  This bittersweet, funny, and bighearted book is also a beautiful, precise elegy to a wilder, more alive New York City where anything seemed possible.”    
— Dana Spiotta, author of Stone Arabia and Eat the Document
                                                                                                                                                           
“B.G. Firmani’s witty, intimate, and knowing voice is captivating, and will keep readers up way past their bedtime, as it did me, just to stay under its spell.  Time’s a Thief tells the ageless story of a young woman who comes to New York City to be schooled, awakened, emotionally bruised, and heartbroken, until she grows wise enough to put the shambles of her life back together. It’s a pleasure to accompany this heroine on her journey.”
— Lynne Sharon Schwartz, author of Rough Strife and Disturbances in the Field

“Firmani really captures the grit and promise of 1980s New York, with too many cigarettes and dingy punk shows, when it was both unusual and magical for kids to come…for school… A leisurely exploration of character and place that, when you connect to Chess, packs a wallop.”
—Booklist

“Immediately absorbing…A compelling story of youthful infatuation, love, and disillusionment.”
—Library Journal
 
“Chess is an engaging character… funny and cool… Like last year’s Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler, it is the coming-of-age of a young woman under the influence of unwholesome Manhattan sophisticates; like the previous year’s City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg, it is a nostalgic paean to the city’s recent past.”
—Kirkus Reviews