“The Man from Yesterday” by Florence Witkop

Carey lives near a small town in Minnesota, and repairs and resells old, broken furniture, mostly at flea markets. She’s walking her dog one morning when she discovers an unconscious man lying in field of flowers. All he has on him are a few old coins and beautiful gold watch, but no identification. She gets medical help, and once he awakens, Carey and the doctor discover their surprise visitor is suffering from amnesia.

The first thing he remembers is his name, Bryce. He also sees Carey’s old fence and is surprised by how broken down it is. And who removed the horse stalls in the barn?

Florence Witkop

Carey – and Bryce – gradually begin to understand that something is seriously wrong. He’s shocked to see a television and a microwave, not to mention that Carey’s pickup truck is painted red instead of the common black. They finally realize that Bryce has arrived from a hundred years earlier, and it has something to do with that beautiful watch.

The novella The Man from Yesterday by Florence Witkop is the story of Carey and Bryce, and how their slowly developing love for each other becomes an impossible situation, begging the obvious question:  Will Bryce have to return to his own time?

Witkop is a former teacher, IT worker, resort owner, ghost writer, editor, and fudge maker and distributor. She’s written several romance novels, short stories, and novellas, mostly set in her native Minnesota. 

The Man from Yesterday might have required an almost-impossible suspension of belief to accept its premise, but Witkop tells the story well. We’re not sure if the story will end with broken or fulfilled hearts, and Witkop maintains the suspense and the reader’s interest to the last page.