Lily Tripp: Diary of an Accidental Time Traveller by Amelia Tait

Lily Tripp: Diary of an Accidental Time Traveller by Amelia Tait

published 2026 (this week)

 

This is a new book for Young Adults, and that high concept title gives a pretty good idea of what it’s about. Lily Tripp, your average 13-year-old, living now in the UK, sometimes goes to sleep and wakes up in a different historical era. During this book – and I do hope it’s going to be the first of a series – she ends up in the 17^th century, and then in the 1970s. She also reminisces about visits to other eras.

Living a dramatic life in the 1600s....

It is a great idea for a book, and the diary format works vey well. Lily is a very convincing young woman, and when she goes time-travelling she is surrounded by her same family, friends and schoolmates – but they don’t realize they are doubling up, they just think Lily is a bit weird sometimes. It is very funny and entertaining.

There is no reason given for the travelling, and the mechanics aren’t explored that closely. (I’m all in favour of that: it’s made up anyway, you don’t have to convince me.) Maybe all will be explained in a future entry.

The book is full of history, which has been very well-researched, but obviously also is amusing and entertaining as our heroine tries to cope, and not get things wrong, or be accused of witchcraft, and hopes to get off with the right boy.

I know Amelia Tait: she is an extraordinarily good freelance journalist who does those articles that you didn’t know you wanted to read: what happened to reality show participants, what is the Mandela effect, how do they choose crisp flavours (well I would always have known I wanted to read that one), what’s it like to ride in a miniature car. I have long loved her work, and am very proud of the fact that occasionally when she has needed an Old Person to talk about how they use technology she has asked me. Blog readers will be pleased to know that I once made an impassioned case, for use in her article, that the Paint app be preserved, as I find it a really easy way to edit the pictures for my entries here. (Yeah, and I think Amelia and I pretty much saved it between us, I mean it still exists, I am still using it every day while everyone else has fancy editing software and AI. We nailed it. Or else, perhaps I am a time-travelling computer user, heading back to 1985 with my illos)

You can find some of her work on her Substack

(5) The Waiting Room | Amelia Tait | Substack

And there is an excellent list of those articles I’m trying to describe here on her website

ameliatait.com/articles/

 

.... on her way to school in 1972

(not really, this is a slight cheat, but I liked the picture - there was a vogue for satchels a year or two later, for grown women to use as a handbag. UK schoolgirls probably used totebags in 1972, unless at a very strict school. Not backpacks, btw)

very very 1970s jewellery and accessories

While she was writing her book, Amelia did ask me a couple of questions about being at school in the 1970s. Frankly, she should have asked me more – not because she got it wrong, she didn’t, but wholly for my own self-importance. So I am appealing to her now: send Lily back to any of my eras, and I will give you all the info you need, I have a very good memory. Please note my careful discussion above of schoolbags - I am an expert. 

...on the way to the youth club disco in the 70s

Anyway, this is a hugely enjoyable, very well-written book, and I look forward to the series.

There used to be a cliché about people saying that they would like to live in the past – someone would answer ‘yes but you picture yourself as rich, you wouldn’t want to go back as a servant would you?’ – and most certainly Amelia has not fallen into that trap at all, the book is very interesting on the lives of people in service.

I strongly recommend it. It is fun to read, but would also make a great present for any young person

And now I’m going to ask my readers: if you could time-travel back to any era, which would you choose? Where would you pick for Lily Tripp to visit? I will pass on your answers to the author…

17^TH Century women – from a girls’ annual from 100 years ago,  a 1920s historical story about the era. So double history/time travel!

1972 – from fashion magazines of the era.