AVAILABLE JUNE 23, 2026 💫
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 sharp, speculative debut novel.
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 and throws “’20s for your twenties” birthday bashes at speakeasies; she smiles politely as rich Wall Street guys give prospecting a shot in 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 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.
Ready for an experience like ever Before?
Explore the world of Retro at the official Retro agency website!
PRAISE FOR RETRO
"This is a 2020s office novel that cleverly lampoons both the luxury travel industry and self-obsessed tech bros' myopic innovations... A nuanced, biting cautionary tale about how not staying present can erase our very selves." —Kirkus, starred review ⭐️
"Retro is so much fun! It's got nostalgia, ennui, inappropriate workplace crushes, strange machines, jaunts to weird little bits of history, terrifying corporate overreach, and jokes: what more could you want?" — Holly Gramazio, author of The Husbands
"Jessica M. Goldstein always has her finger on the pulse of pop culture, and she's adept at writing about it in perceptive and hilarious ways. And in her funny time-leaping novel, she doesn't miss a beat. Retro is worth your attention—no matter what timeline you're on." — Christopher Monks, editor,McSweeney's Internet Tendency
"A magnetic read—equal parts charming, melancholy, and strange—perfect for those with sharp tongues but yearning hearts." — Emily Hunt Kivel, author of Dwelling
"Retro is so many things, all at once: delightful and disturbing; wildly speculative and chillingly realist; meticulously researched and intricately imagined; action-packed and profoundly engaged with questions of ethics, politics and philosophy; propelled through space (and, of course, time) by an engine of crackling cleverness and razor-sharp prose, but constantly retaining a Northstar of deep tenderness and genuine heart. This novel is a cri de coeur, a wild adventure, a brilliant book." — Moriel Rothman-Zecher, author of Sadness is a White Bird
"Retro puts a fresh spin on the time-travel genre, blending the allure of times gone past with the absurdities of corporate work culture. Shrewd, witty and original." — Aisling Rawle, author of The Compound
"Retro is a smart exploration of time travel in the Instagram age: a vividly imagined and gently satirical novel, with a keen eye for the ways nostalgia and commerce intertwine." — Hanna Bervoets, author of We Had to Remove This Post
"Retro is a funny, punchy, delightful romp through American history, tourism, and the modern workplace. Goldstein's eye for visceral detail shines as she incisively examines the nature of nostalgia. Existential but silly, heady but oh so juicy." — Casey Scieszka, author of The Fountain
"Retro is smart, funny, and delicious. If I could time-travel, I would go back and read it again for the first time." — Alexandra Petri, author of A.P. U.S. History: Important American Documents (I Made Up) and winner of the 2025 Thurber Prize for American Humor