Retro

An out-of-work actress gets a job as a tour guide for an ultra-luxury time travel company--only to discover her trips to the past could upend her present--in this rollicking, speculative debut novel.

"Retro is so much fun! It's got nostalgia, ennui, inappropriate workplace crushes, jaunts to weird little bits of history, terrifying corporate overreach, and jokes: What more could you want?"--Holly Gramazio, author of The Husbands

When Ash spots an ad for Retro during a depressing Instagram scroll--she's in debt and unemployed; everyone else is, evidently, thriving--she's surprised the algorithm sent it her way. She's heard of recreational time travel, but it's way out of her budget. Then she sees the caption: Come away with us! We're hiring.

So begins Ash's life as a Time Travel Agent, leading wealthy tourists on vacations to historical hotspots. She takes bachelorette parties to live out their cowboy-romance fantasies in the Old West; she chaperones "'20s for your twenties" birthday excursions to speakeasies; she smiles politely as rich Wall Street guys give prospecting a shot during the Gold Rush. It's all thrilling, outrageous, and totally surreal. Bygone America is just a Retro Metro ride away.

Despite Ash's tendency toward cynicism, she finds herself swept up in her dazzling new job. Sure, Ash isn't the actress she'd always dreamed she'd be. But isn't this so much better? It's like Ash's life is a movie, complete with an impossible love triangle. How is she supposed to choose between her mysterious office crush and the handsome private eye pursuing her in 1937?

For the first time in years, Ash's life feels enviable--so she'd really rather not pay attention to the strange things happening to her memory and relationships outside Retro. But as her trips threaten to unravel her real life, she confronts an unsettling truth: Escaping into the past was never really an escape at all.

Author: Jessica M. Goldstein
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 06/23/2026
Pages: 416
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.32lbs
Size: 9.52h x 6.38w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9798217091362


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 05/01/2026
Publishers Weekly 05/04/2026
Booklist 06/01/2026

About the Author
Jessica M. Goldstein is a journalist and humorist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vulture, Marie Claire, McSweeney's, and more. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, she was born and raised in New Jersey and currently lives in Washington, D.C. Retro is her first novel.