What an absolute treasure this story was to read! The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds by Jennifer Moorman is a story of magical realism about a woman named Josephine who time travels back to 1927 to save the life of her great-grandmother Alma. Back then during the time of prohibition, Alma, who lived in the Carter mansion, ran a speakeasy in her basement. With Josephine recently becoming a widow and feeling somewhat depressed, she makes a wish that she later regrets. If she doesn’t go back and make things right, her great-grandmother Alma will die in a raid and then all of her future offspring including Josephine will have never existed. It’s up to Josephine to make things right. This was a really fun book to read, I really enjoyed reading about how they dressed during those times and the characters were all pleasant and very caring. Things sure were so much different back then! There’s a romance involved that even though it couldn’t ever go anywhere, it opened up the possibilities for future relationships. This is a book that you won’t want to miss out on, I highly recommend it. Now that I’ve finished this, I’m anxious to read all the other books by this author. I’d like to thank Taylor Ward, Senior Publicist at Harper Muse for accepting my request to read an early copy and NetGalley for the arc. I loved reading this story and I can’t wait to read more by Jennifer Moorman. I’m giving this a 5 star rating!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you NetGalley and Harper Muse for the advanced digital and physical copies.

I’ve read and loved many of Jennifer’s books, but this one is my absolute favorite! The 1920s speakeasy and time travel vibes were right up my alley!

Things I loved:
- I loved that when Josephine traveled back to present day, her interactions in that timeline were not overly complicated.
- I loved that the time travel aspects were not deep seated in confusing timelines, and there were not a ton of twists to follow and understand. It was simple and lovely, and that’s what made the story so magical!
- I loved that there was a romantic element to the story — the ending gave me “The Age of Adeline” vibes — but it was more about family and what it means to find yourself again after being absorbed by someone else for so long.

If you love any of the things mentioned above, you will adore this book as much as I do!

All the stars for this gem of a novel! We meet Josephine Reynolds, newly widowed, and somewhat lost on how to move forward and start healing. Her sister Katherine urges her to make a few changes so she can find happiness again and so in a thoughtless moment Josephine wishes to herself that she were never born. The next day Katherine sends Josephine house listings in the area and to Josephine’s delight she spots her family’s old mansion up for sale. Wondering how it ended up foreclosed on, she buys it and sets in motion a chain of events that could alter her past and future, hopefully not causing her careless wish to become a reality.

I love time travel stories and this one has it all, including an old mansion, a love interest, and the roaring 1920s. I LOVED this book and cannot wait to get my hands on a hard copy for my library. Thanks for NetGalley for an advanced copy.

The Vanishing Of Josephine Reynolds is the third stand-alone novel by American author, Jennifer Moorman. “I wish I’d never been born” is what thirty-five-year-old Josephine Reynolds mutters on a particularly bad day when she’s been widowed six months. She had moulded her life to suit his, so Nathan’s absence has eliminated Josephine’s purpose and direction.

But her sister Katherine is determined to bring back the Jo-Jo she once was, and has suggestions, starting with selling the house that was Nathan’s status symbol, a way to showcase his ambition and impressive lifestyle, but was never what Josephine wanted. The impetus to actually do so comes when she learns that Grandma Dorothy’s historic Victorian mansion in Bell Meade has been foreclosed on: she can easily afford the wonderful home their Uncle Donnie helped himself to when his mother died.

It's late September when Josephine moves into the Carter Mansion. The sound of music takes Josephine down to the cellar where she stumbles on a hidden door. When they open it, she and Katherine discover what used to be a speakeasy. A bit of internet sleuthing reveals that their great-grandmother, Alma, given the house by her first husband, Franklin Carter, ran the speakeasy in the late 1920s during Prohibition, and was once almost arrested during a raid.

Soon after getting essentials unpacked, Josehine’s priority is to replace the ugly front door Donnie put up, probably to annoy the fussy neighbourhood association. The door that Leo Freeman at the salvage yard shows her is perfect: it’s the door his father originally crafted for the house. His mother blessed it, and he even has the door key. This was meant to be! Leo does mention something about Alma being shot dead in a raid on the speakeasy, but she lived to the ripe old age of ninety-eight, so that can’t be right.

The new door fitted, Josephine spots some words engraved next to one of the glass panels, a Gatsby quote she recites just before turning the key and finding herself in the mansion’s foyer, being greeted by Alma Carter. She bluffs her way through, and begins to realise she’s stepping between dual timelines or, as she later understands, duelling timelines.

Back in her own time, Josephine notices that random items, clothing, furniture, photographs, seem to be disappearing, and her chat with Leo, the only person who might not think she’s crazy, leads to the conclusion that her throw-away wish might come true if the timeline in which Alma is shot prevails. If Josephine wants to continue to exist in the 2020s, she needs to save Alma’s life in 1927.

Moorman certainly evokes her era and setting, although her wordy descriptions of clothing, furniture and buildings do become a little tedious. The time-hopping is fairly well handled, with any anomalies put down to Josephine’s ignorance of quite how it works. There’s a good bit of drama in the climax, and a sweet, possible happy ever after at the end. An enjoyable time-travel romance tale.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Harper Focus.

"The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds" by Jennifer Moorman is an enchanting mix of historical fiction, time travel, and magical realism. The story follows Josephine Reynolds, a young widow who, while navigating her grief, decides to buy her ancestral home. During the renovations, she stumbles upon a mysterious door that whisks her back to 1927, where she meets her great-grandmother, Alma, a lively woman who runs an illegal speakeasy in the basement.

While the novel offers a rich blend of emotions and settings, some readers might find the pacing a bit uneven at times. There are parts that dive deep into descriptive scenes, which can slow the story down for a moment. However, the main storyline remains captivating, and the magical elements sprinkle a delightful charm throughout.

In summary, "The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds" is a delightful read for anyone who enjoys a touch of magic in their historical stories. Moorman's storytelling encourages us to reflect on the lasting impact of family ties and the healing power of embracing our past as we move forward.

Loved it!!! This book is pure magic and beautifully written. I absolutely LOVED "The Magic All Around" and couldn't wait to read this. The book definitely didn't disappoint. Loved Josephine and Katherine's relationship. They were more than sisters to each other. Without Katherine, Josephine would still be miserable in the house that her husband designed without any of her input, wearing his shirts all day, not showering and hiding from the world. Josephine would never have bought the Carter Mansion, which had once been a wedding gift to her great-grandma, Alma, until her uncle Donnie inherited it. Someone needed to replace the turkey weather vane, shed and hideous door that the Neighborhood Association did not approve. Josephine made one little wish, which caused her life to change. Now she wants to save everything that's disappearing. It's horrible to say, but the death of Josephine's husband set her free to be her true self. Loved getting to know Alma and all her friends. The ending was perfect and especially when Josephine gets her unexpected visitor. My review doesn't do the book justice. It was a wonderful story.

Definitely recommend the book. Loved the characters, story and writing style. I enjoyed how the book alternated between Josephine in the present and in 1927 while she's "visiting" her great-grandma Alma. Didn't Alma find it strange that someone just walked into her house? I couldn't put the book down, but was sad when I got to the end because I wanted to keep reading about everyone and see what's next for Josephine. Look forward to reading more books by the author. Absolutely love the cover of the book!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from HarperCollins Focus through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

“It’s not easy to believe, but it adds up. The strangeness of everything is difficult to ignore. It would be simpler to go with a logical explanation, but some things in this world aren’t logical.”


A nice and heart-warming read about a woman named Josephine who was able to travel back to year 1920s to save her great grandmother from death. Her great grandmother owned a speakeasy and she supposedly died from a raid.
I love time-travelling and magical realism stories. 11/22/63 by Stephen King is still one of my top fave novel written about time travel and I still pretty much think about the book and the characters until now. I'm searching for a read that will give me the same feels.
The concept of being able to meet a relative esp when they were your age is really cool. It's interesting to know how one's time leap can alter both past and future. You also can't help but contemplate if you had the chance to travel back in time to change a few thing, would you dare risk it? Even it means you wouldn't exist in the future, would you decide to stay in the past if it means your sacrifice is going to be much more worth it? This story focuses on dealing with grief, facing the unknown/uncertainties and a little bit of romance thrown it but not too cringe. I'm not a huge fan of the 20s era though but fans of the Great Gatsby will probably enjoy and appreciate it more. Though it's a bit predictable, I still liked it and I surprisingly did not find it boring at all.

4.3 ⭐

What an amazing story! 🫶🏻

Plot: 5/5
Pace: 3+/5
Female characters: 4.5/5

I loved Josephine's journey coming back to life after a long year of grieving.
She felt lost and sad, but seeing how the women in her life helped her see the beauty of life was inspiring and heartwarming.

The magical element in the book is something I'm really drawn to (time travel) and I would like to read more about in the future.

The ending has me smiling and cursing a bit too. I think I needed a second epilogue 🥹

And I also think I need to keep an eye on this author and her stories.

// Thank you to Netgalley, Jennifer Moorman and HarperCollins Focus for the opportunity to read the ARC of this in exchange of my honest opinion //

I like the concept and setting of this book. I was quite excited to see a woman who has let herself be defined by her husband and her relationship find her way back to herself. I wish that had been given more narrative focus than the new romance.
I felt this prose was a little overwritten, particularly the stage direction - we were given nearly every movement Josephine made, as opposed to broad strokes that allowed us to keep the action going, and the dialogue. However, it's possible the dialogue didn't hit for me more because I couldn't get invested in Josephine's relationship with her sister. They way they spoke to each other felt a bit stiff and unnatural for siblings to me.
Definitely more for fans of historical romance than those more interested in the fantasy/time travel aspect.

3.5–the description of this book really intrigued me. A widowed woman buys an old family home and uses an old family antique door to transport back to the 1920’s to meet her great grandmother and change the course of their lives. I give the premise an A, but the execution a C.

The pros:
-time travel( I’m such a sucker!)
-1920’s jazz age era was brought to life in this novel. It’s a time period I’ve always loved and been intrigued with
-Josephine’s family relationships were strong and I can always appreciate that
-I love the concept of going back in time and meeting our ancestors

The Cons:
-The widow backstory didn’t seem like it fit. It served as a catalyst for Josephine buying the house, but otherwise, it didn’t play enough of a strong role in the story.
-The romance woven through the story didn’t really feel believable and felt like an extra layer that wasn’t needed.

Overall, it was a fun read, but it could’ve been executed better.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!

I loved this book! I mean I loved it! This book had it all historical fiction, time travel and bit of magical moments. I feel into this story and was so sad when the book ended. I will be recommending this book to anyone who will listen to me. :)

This is a story of love, loss, some romance, a bit of fantasy and time-travel which certainly does take you on a ride, or should I say a journey you have never been on before! Josephine Reynolds finds a door and goes through it. But what is behind this magical door? 1927, Jazz, her great grandmother and a whole new world.

This is a very well written book and I couldn't put it down. It made me laugh and cry, I loved the feel of the book, the magic and fantasy and the storyline. It is easy to read yet it kept me enthralled and certainly kept me reading. I loved it.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Focus | Harper Muse for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is a captivating read for anyone who has ever wondered about the power of human connection and the ripple effects of our choices, as it weaves a spellbinding tale of love, family, and the unbreakable bonds between generations, set against the vibrant backdrop of the Jazz Age.

The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds’ by Jennifer Moorman is an enchanting blend of magical realism and historical fiction. The story captivated me from the first page with its vivid depiction of the Jazz Age and heartfelt exploration of grief and healing. Josephine's journey back to the Prohibition era and her connection with her great-grandmother, Alma, was beautifully executed. The pacing was perfect, and the author’s descriptive writing made me feel like I was truly there. I highly recommend this book to fans of time-travel novels and anyone looking for a story about love, loss, and resilience. 4/5 stars!!!

I wish I had better things to say about this book. I had high hopes—the synopsis made it sound like something I'd love. I started with the audiobook but had to stop almost immediately. The narrator’s voice drove me insane; it felt like she was forcing a breathy, syrupy Southern belle tone for a widow who had been married for 15 years. At the very least, this character was 33—not 12.

Unfortunately, the book itself wasn’t any better. Since I received my copy after its official release, I can only hope it underwent another round of editing before reaching the masses. The story dragged, lacked structure, and was riddled with plot holes. One major issue: the protagonist travels back in time in a way that should erase her own existence. If you've ever watched a time travel movie, you know interacting with the past risks making you disappear. Not in this book! Instead, she somehow creates multiple timelines where she both exists and doesn’t—without any logical explanation.

On paper, this book felt like it was just for me. I love the 20s, time travel, magical realism, and a mystery that needs to be solved. I found the story intriguing: Josephine can step back in time through the door to her house, and the speakeasy, and having to save her grandmother to save herself. However, some things nagged at me. For instance, Josephine's relationship with her dead husband—she spent so much time mourning, but as the story progressed, I got the feeling that she wasn't happy in the marriage. And that's okay, I guess. I just felt that she had been married to this guy for a long time, and it seemed like she now realized she wasn't happy. At first, it didn't bother me; however, as the book progressed, she thought more about how controlling he was, how he swept her off her feet, and how she lived in a golden cage that she seemed to like—at least until he was gone, and she now realized everything. It's perhaps a small, thing, but it was just something that annoyed me throughout the story since she was at first so sad. Then, of course, there is someone else that she meets...also a thing that I was not completely sold on. However, it made the ending quite good. So, I will admit that it wasn't all that bad the romance part of the story.

I did enjoy the book, but not as much as I hoped I would. As I mentioned above, some things bothered me; however, I did love going back in time through the magical door and that her grandmother had a speakeasy. The story felt a bit easy to predict, but overall, it was a good story.

A twist of fate allows widowed Josephine Reynolds to become the latest owner of the Carter Mansion. Travel along as Josephine finds herself stepping back in time through her own enchanted front door into the home once owned by her great grandmother. Once in the past, she finds herself on a mission to save her great grandmother’s life. Josephine must race the clock to change the past or she risks her present-day life vanishing.
I enjoyed this quick read. I loved the author’s note included with the book which gave us a glimpse of her inspiration in writing this story. She mentions seeing an old door years ago at a salvage store that left her day dreaming of all the history that this door had been witness to during its existence. This inspired her time travel story, complete with the setting of a home in the 20s with a secret speakeasy. Author Jennifer Moorman does a great job of weaving a time travel tale filled with mystery, new friendships and a dash of romance.

*I received an arc of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

3.5 rounded down to 3.

Thank you to Harper Collins Focus and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Magical realism has my heart. And the Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds was a darling magical realism representation. It was a blast into a bit of historical fiction via an enchanted door. My favorite parts of the book were definitely the parts taking place in the 1920s. One of the main characters in 1920, Alma, was so dynamic and completely lovely. She was an absolute treat and I loved her upbeat, positive personality.

The book started to become a bit repetitive at the halfway point. It goes through Josephine, the main character, going back and forth between timelines and being angsty about how she's going to save her family. She hops back and forth going to the speakeasy, making food and changing outfits. I could not stand her attitude towards her late husband, Nathan. She spends so much time, almost idolizing him, yet he seems like a utter and complete a&%hole! She was pretty much in an oppressed relationship, yet she still had warm fuzzy memories about their time together. That part really didn't work for me. One more point - in the NetGalley description it says that Josephine buys her grandma's craftsman bungalow, but in the book the home she buys is actually a mansion. I may have enjoyed it more if the house was a sweet and cozy little bungalow?

Even with all of that, I really did enjoy it! I loved the idea of the enchanted door. Leo was a cutie! And the descriptions of the 20s clothes was a fun aspect! The little bits of prohibition we get was pretty interesting. It would have been great if there would have been more of that. I will definitely be diving into more books from Jennifer Moorman.

This was a quick, easy read for me that pulled at my heart strings and took me on a wonderful journey into the past. I haven't read a time travel novel in a while, and this has reignited my interest in that genre. There are some loveable characters in this story, and they are well-developed with some endearing qualities. It's a story of grief, family bonds, friendship, strength, and hope, with a tender romance developing. I'm so glad I chose to read an advance copy of this book and I can't wait to read more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a digital ARC for review.

📖 The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds 📖⁣
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⁣Genre: Historical Fiction/ Magical Realism. ⁣
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⁣Length: 320 Pages. ⁣
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⁣Pub Date: January 14, 2025. ⁣
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⁣This book is part historical fiction and part magical realism. Josephine never imagined she’d be a widow in her mid-thirties. One night while deep in her despair and desperately lonely, Josephine wishes she’d never been born. At the same moment, she receives a link from her sister— a sales listing for her great-grandmother’s house. Her sister convinces her to buy the house and restore it to its former glory. ⁣
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⁣The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds sucked me in with its likable characters, historic setting and the time travel. Pick this up if you’re a fan of flappers, strong females, and surviving after loss. Four stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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⁣Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in return for my honest review.