The Edge of Yesterday is a haunting contemporary speculative novel about time travel and finding yourself from award-winning author Rita Woods.

Greer Coffey is a principal dancer with a renowned Harlem company. Sebastian Coffey is an architect with a prestigious Midtown firm. The Coffey’s are the ultimate dream couple — until their world completely unravels. After Greer develops a career ending neurologic disorder, she finds herself back in her hometown of Detroit. Angry, lonely, her marriage buckling under the strain, she takes to aimlessly wandering the city streets. One night, she stumbles through a vortex, a portal through time that transports her back into 1925 Detroit, where she meets a handsome, charming doctor.

Dr. Montgomery Gray is a member of Detroit’s Black Aristocracy, wealthy and connected to some of the most powerful Black families in the country. Detroit in 1925 is the beating heart of an industrial nation, but it is also a tinderbox of poor immigrants, Prohibition driven gang wars, and the Klan. As a member of the Talented Tenth, Monty is expected to be the tip of the spear in the fight for the Race, no matter the cost. Exhausted, frustrated, and longing to break free of expectations, he is stunned to find a woman from the future roaming Detroit’s Black Bottom.

Initially cautious, Monty and Greer slowly grow increasingly exhilarated with the visits. For Greer, 1925 offers an escape from the sorrow of her "real life," and for Monty, the future that Greer lays before him is irresistible. But 2025 becomes gradually less and less recognizable, as each visit back through time causes increasing rips in the timeline. Ultimately, Greer finds herself trapped in 1925 and Monty is forced into a deadly confrontation that changes the trajectory of his life.

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Praise for this book

“In The Edge of Yesterday Rita Woods offers a fresh and unique take to time travel—and its possible reality bending ramifications. Somewhere between Octavia Butler's Kindred and Blake Crouch's Recursion, this story forces us to confront both the ghosts of our past and the unforeseen consequences of trying to alter it. Both gripping and haunting, I could not put this one down!”—P. Djèlí Clark, award-winning author of A Master of Djinn

“The Edge of Yesterday is a spinning, swirling novel of extraordinary imagination. Readers are transported back and forth in time in an unforgettable story of second chances and what ifs.”—Elizabeth Gonzalez James, author of The Bullet Swallower

"Expertly weaving together the past and the present, The Edge of Yesterday is a poignant tale about the dangers of pursuing a freedom one was never meant to have, and about surviving those consequences by holding onto the hope of tomorrow. A story so universal it transcends time."—O.O. Sangoyomi, author of Masquerade

"Rita Woods is one of my go-to authors. Her keen prose, vivid storytelling, and rich characters always leave me wanting more.”—Susan Dennard, New York Times bestselling author

“Fans of historical fiction will love this gorgeous, surreal tale of two lives across time, one drawn to the past, the other to the future, both seeking escape and both forever changed by the devastating consequences of their choices.”—Veronica G. Henry, author of The Canopy Keepers

“The Edge of Yesterday is a delicious time travel adventure that feels epic and intimate, fresh and startling. Juxtaposing the possibilities and constraints of 2025 and 1925, Woods conjures compelling characters in wonderfully detailed settings to speculate on what ideas about the future mean to the past. Her characters ask themselves if who they happen to be is who they mean to be. A question for us all.”—Andrea Hairston, author of Archangels of Funk

"Wow, wow, wow! This is a time travel book like no other! The Edge of Yesterday had me on the edge of my seat during this wholly unpredictable and ingenious ride. I cheered for Monty and Greer from beginning to end, over achievers who refuse to accept their fate. And what an end! Woods knows the painful history of race in America, especially in the roaring twenties, and science's limitations on healing illnesses in our present day and the impact of both on the human body and soul. Stunning, heart-stirring, razor sharp!"—Jimin Han, author of The Apology

"A time traveling vortex in the shape of a book, The Edge of Yesterday is a story that soars through time to both celebrate and mourn the past. Heartbreaking, raw, complicated, and vast, Rita Woods does it again."—J.R. Dawson, award-winning author of The First Bright Thing




About the AuthorRITA WOODS was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She received a BS in Microbiology from Purdue University before graduating from Howard University College of Medicine. She completed her training at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska and currently serves as Medical Director of a Wellness Center that provides care for members of one of the largest Trade Unions in the nation. Rita lives in suburban Chicago with her family, where she also serves as a Trustee on her local library board. She loves magic, books, history, coffee and traveling, not necessarily in that order. She is the author of the award-winning novel Remembrance and The Last Dreamwalker.
Title: The Edge of Yesterday
Author(s): Rita Woods
ISBN: 9781250805669
Copyright 2025
Release Date: April 29, 2025
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group
Countries: United States, Canada | Learn more about available countries
Language: English
Format: None available | Learn More about our supported formats
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