Toward the End of Time

Nov 29, 2025 12:47 PM

Author:John Updike

Ben Turnbull is a 66 year-old retired investment consultant living north of Boston in the year 2020. A recent war between the United States and China has thinned the population and brought social chaos. Nevertheless, Ben's life, traced by his journal entries over the course of the year, retains much of its accustomed comforts. Something of a science buff, he finds his personal history cuaght up in the dysjunctions and vagaries of the 'many universes'; his identity branches into variants extending back through history and ahead in the evolution of the universe, as both it and his own mortal, nature-shrouded existence move toward the end of time ...

Reviews

This is a tragic story with not a word wasted, raised to an elegiac level by Phillips's supple, controlled prose

—— Sunday Independent

A subtle and poignant novel... A fine and beautifully nuanced performance

—— Sunday Times

A compassionate portrait of an enigmatic figure... Written with Phillips's trademark understated elegance

—— The Times

Phillips has brilliantly resurrected a bitter-sweet life... Without a doubt Phillips' most accomplished novel

—— Time Out

Caryl Philips novel tells [Walker and William's story] with sensitivity and eloquence. He is a consummate storyteller...

—— Observer

A novel that the reader can sink into and enjoy...sketched vividly and sympathetically. A rewarding book.

—— Scotsman

Jean Plaidy, by the skilful blending of superb storytelling and meticulous attention to authenticity of detail and depth of charaterization has become one of the country's most widely read novelists

—— Sunday Times

Joughin's second novel confirms her gift for mining tragi-comic gems from outposts of shabby bohemia

—— The Independent

Joughin's poetic prose perfectly conveys the delicacy of human emotion, and the frequent disjunction between art and life'

—— Choice Magazine

Like a cross between Margaret Drabble and Francoise Sagan

—— The Times

Joughin has an appealing darkness and urgency, as she potently conveys the pleasures and pains of human interactions

—— The Sunday Times

Adeptly written and enjoyable... Ruth's childhood perspectives are extremely well captured

—— Telegraph

Striking story of Ruth and Gray under the spell of famous poets' lives

—— Good Housekeeping's 8 Great Reads

Reading Joughin's second novel is like immersing yourself in a cool pool at a hazy summer party ...as addictively abrasive as a shot of cold vodka, this wil leave you both refreshed and gasping for stability

—— Time Out

This darkly comic story about unpredictable love is perfect if you're looking for some intelligent chicklit

—— Family Circle

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