*Spoiler Alert*

I have never read the back cover of a book that left me more compelled to flip to the front page than when I read the blurb for the 2011 novel, “11/22/63” by Stephen King. 

Historical fiction and time travel? Count me in. But as I traveled through time, I quickly learned this story contained much more weight than its description let off. 

“11/22/63” takes place in the year 2011 and follows Jake Epping, a high school English teacher from Lisbon, Maine, who is tasked with the improbable: to travel back in time to 1958 to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy (JFK).

The entirety of the novel follows modern-day Epping as he learns how to blend into this foreign world. The book sits at roughly 850 pages, and while many readers note this felt too long, I do not think this story could have been properly told in a shorter format.

When I read this book, I really took my time with it. I did not want to rush such a complex story.  

This is exactly why I found some issues with the 2016 miniseries adaptation of the novel titled “11/22/63.” In the novel, Epping is dropped into 1958, leaving just around five years until the dreaded day of JFK’s assassination. In the show, however, Epping starts his journey in 1960, and three years is a lot to cover in just eight episodes. 

It is even harder to describe this story’s impact on me within this review.

However, given what the production team had to work with, I do think the show was a generally good adaptation of this beloved book. The core aspect of this story I think was adapted well into TV is the relationship between Epping and Texas high school librarian, Sadie Dunhill.  

As Epping keeps his eyes on his goal of saving the president, his blossoming romantic relationship with Dunhill transforms into his ultimate quest: to keep her safe. 

At the climax of the story, when Epping stops Lee Harvey Oswald from shooting JFK, he is not fast enough to stop the bullet from entering Dunhill’s chest. While Epping has completed his task, he ca not help but feel like his time was wasted. 

What I find so beautiful about this story is the overarching lesson that Epping has to live with. He learns that everything happens for a reason. 

After saving the president, Epping travels back through the rabbit hole to the present to learn that the world has turned into an apocalyptic, desolate landscape. He is met with the harsh truth that no matter what he changes, he cannot control what harm these changes will bring to the future.

The dichotomy of this realization is that Epping has to accept both the facts that he was never meant to save the president, and that he was never meant to meet his love from the past. 

There is a moment in the book, that was not included in the show, where Epping contemplates walking back through the rabbit hole, resetting his actions and running off with Dunhill to live a happy and secluded life. Though hard to convince himself of, deep down he knows this could never be a reality. No matter how little he believes he is changing things, “the past is obdurate.” 

Epping dreams of a life where he could live with the woman he loves and start a family, but it’s impossible. He is forced to let her go and let her live the life in which he was never meant to be a part of. This part of the book was especially heartbreaking for me.

At the end of the story, Epping undoes the years he spent in the past and accepts that things played out exactly how they were meant to. 

The final scene in both the book and the show showcases a wiser, more mature Epping following his travel through time, where he meets an elderly Dunhill, who has been crowned “Texas Woman of the Year” due to her charitable contributions to the community. 

This version of Dunhill has no idea who Epping is. It is a bittersweet moment where Epping invites Dunhill to dance with him, closing the chapter on their time-bending relationship. There is a moment during the dance where Dunhill questions if she recognizes Epping after all, if only for a moment. 

I teared up reading the final pages of the book, and I cried like a baby during the last scene of the show. Some mediums of storytelling are just more effective than others depending on the scene.

This story spoke to me so profoundly, and I am already planning my second read of the book. “11/22/63” held my heart, broke it just enough, then somehow managed to put it all back together in the end. 

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