We don’t think much about clocks anymore. Time is always there, always accessible. But for most of history, time was something you noticed. You listened for it. You waited for it.
And for a long time, it was powerful.
Before standardized time, towns lived by the sun and by church bells. When public clocks became common, they brought order—but they also brought control. Knowing the time meant knowing when to work, when to travel, when to gather, and when something officially began or ended.
One of the best-known examples is Big Ben. When it began chiming in the 1800s, it wasn’t just telling Londoners the hour. It set the rhythm for an empire. Time became something shared—and enforced.
Why Time Matters in Fiction
Clocks work well in historical fiction because they feel personal.
A ticking clock adds tension without needing explanation. A pocket watch can tell you who was present, when something happened, or whether a story adds up.
A stopped clock can mark a moment someone never moved past.
Time also reminds us how fragile history can be. A document signed five minutes earlier—or later—can change everything. So can a moment that never made it into the official record.
Time and The Monarch Alliance
While writing The Monarch Alliance, I kept coming back to that idea. History doesn’t usually disappear. It gets overlooked. Misdated. Set aside.
The story revolves around moments that mattered more than anyone realized at the time—and objects that quietly outlasted the people who tried to bury the truth.
Timekeeping plays a role not because it’s flashy, but because it’s real. History unfolds in precise moments, and sometimes those moments are the key to understanding what really happened.
A Final Thought
We often think of history as fixed, but it isn’t. It’s built from individual moments—some carefully recorded, others nearly forgotten.
And every so often, it takes a closer look at time itself to bring those moments back into focus.
If you enjoy historical mysteries that pay attention to the details most people overlook, The Monarch Alliance might be a story you’d enjoy spending some time with.
— Jessica James
Don’t want to wait?
This historical mystery novel releases in April, but you can pre-order a copy of The Monarch Alliance today.
